Full Circle
by Gypsy3
Summary: ** COMPLETED ** The Sequel To Trinity. Agent Litha Sinclair comes back to the SOU
1. Manhunt At Sunset

This FIC takes place 18 months after Trinty leaves off. Please read Trinity first as it will help you with certain characters in this story.  
  
--  
  
Agent Sinclair stood stock still in the dusky forest. Snow was glittering on the ground around her. They'd had an early snowstorm two days before and it simply stuck instead of melting off. Thanksgiving was going to be treacherous this year. One of her Desert Eagles was in her hand as she slid her green eyes closed and listened. The night air was silent save for the various tree branches clicking off one another in the wind. They were out there, somewhere. She just had to find them.  
  
A footfall far to her left brought her head around and she took off after it. Lillith Morgana Sinclair was on a manhunt. She was dressed in head to toe black, tight black tactical pants encased her hips and thighs, then melded into calf-high tac boots. She had a black turtleneck on under the flak vest and polarfleece jacket. Her long black hair remained in a braid down the middle of her back, tied off with a simple wrapped cord. The one holster on her right hip was empty, it's occupant in her right hand even as it's twin was still holstered on her left hip. Litha Sinclair was one of three higher ranking Justice Department agents who were allowed to carry two sidearms as standard. She was a rogue in the department. Ever since she brought in one of their own however, she was held at arms length.  
  
She drew to a crunching halt behind a tree. It's trunk was wide enough to conceal her as she pressed her back up against it. Again she slid her eyes closed and listened to the whispers on the night wind. The sun had set completely now, the moon risen to give the crusted snow a sparkling sugary appearance. It was almost five years ago that she had to give up one life for another. This and a million other thoughts she forced into the back of her mind as she tuned her ears again.  
  
All movements had ceased in the area. She could hear her own breathing, just barely as she forced it to quell down. Her thick black lashes rested coal black on cold pale cheeks as she slowly turned her head from one side to the other. A very very cautious footfall sounded behind her. Not too far behind her either. All she'd have to do is wait for them to come to her. Carefully she unfastened the strap on her left holster and pulled out the mate to the Desert Eagle in her right hand.\  
  
Litha pressed tighter against the tree, the bark scratching her arms through the fleece of her jacket. The footsteps fell silent mere feet behind her. She couldn't chance turning and making a noise to scare off her target. This was going to be tricky. Gingerly, Litha thumbed the hammers back, trying to be as silent as possible. She kept her eyes closed, listening intently even as she lowered her arms down to her sides... leaning forward slightly, she pushed her arms behind her, around the tree truck. 'Blind shot, going to have to risk it' she thought. It was all or nothing and if she could at least get them off of their game then she could get around the trunk and pin them down. If she could get the leader, then she would have a bargaining chip with the the partner.  
  
She drew in a silent breath and squeezed both triggers. Dual reports shattered the night air as the twin Desert Eagles fired. Litha's quarry behind her startled and jumped back, tripping over an unexposed tree root and falling to the ground. That gave the JD agent enough time to get around the tree trunk, pistols held up at shoulder level and aimed directly at the target who was scrabbling for her gun.  
  
"Game over. Surrender." The emerald eyes of Litha Sinclair bored into the woman on her back in front of her. Slowly both hands came up to signal her surrender.  
  
"Call your partner, tell him to surrender himself too."  
  
"Why would I do that when I have the advantage?" She sneered, her eyes shifting to the left slightly.  
  
She saw the glance... in a flash, she spun halfway around, one pistol still trained on her target even as the other whipped over and pinned onto the other man behind her. She squeezed the trigger, the report shattering the night air again and causing a shower of tree bark to spray over the snow. The man behind the tree was now swearing a blue streak as one of the splinters of wood embedded itself into his shoulder.  
  
"Surrender now or suffer the embarrassment of being hauled back into class in handcuffs."  
  
Both of them had started to shake in their boots. They hadn't counted on their instructor using live ammo in this training excercise. But Litha was a good instructor and had told them that in their jobs, there was no such thing as friendly fire, when you go out into the field, you better be prepared to use whatever force necessary. This was her way of preparing them while still in the academy for life outside of the sheltering walls.  
  
"Toss your weapons over here and join your classmate on the ground."  
  
The second did as instructed, tossing his class issue pistol on the ground at her feet, then kneeling down in front of her. She instructed both of them to get on their knees, facing her and wrists crossed behind their backs. As they did, she pulled out to Quikuffs and bound up their wrists. Then, after holstering her own two pistols, she grabbed them by the back of their jackets and hauled them to her feet. It was going to be a long walk back into the lecture hall and on the way, she'd be able to tell them of what they did wrong and how she was able to track them.  
  
"HEY!! You said if we surrenedered we wouldn't be brought back in 'cuffs!!" The littler of the two whined a bit as she marched them along.  
  
"No, I said that if you didn't surrender right then, I'd embarrass you by marching you into class in handcuffs. As it is now, the longer you protest, the longer you stay in the cuffs. If I'm in a good mood by the time I get the two of you back to the starting point, I MIGHT consider letting you walk in on your own after you've slept a good night in your own bed. Keep pissing me off and I'll put the two of you in the cadet brig and let you walk in, clothes dirty from the snow and unwashed from this little excercise. Maybe that will keep the two of you from making snide comments and bragging about how I'm just a girl and you can beat me at my own game any time. Never mock your instructors kids, we're here for a reason. We've been doing this longer than you, and we're still alive. So that should tell you something about how good we are."  
  
Litha continued to read the two bedraggled students the riot act until they got back to base camp, where she halted them by jerking on the back of their jackets and carefully kicking them in the back of the knees. As they hit the ground on their knees, she patted them on their heads. "Agent Sinclair reporting back with the two fugitives in hand."  
  
The Director of the Academy grinned and clapped her on the shoulder. "Gotten that burr out of your saddle yet Sinclair?"  
  
"No," she smiled wickedly and cast a glance at the two recalcitrant students who were now pink cheeked as the snickers and whispers of their fellow classmates drifted over to them. "But I think I'll take what I got already. You should have seen the look on Horn's face when she realized that she'd been had. Formine has a splinter in his shoulder from the tree, so he'll need to go to the infirmary and have it removed."  
  
"We need to talk, Sinclair." Director Walden put one arm around her shoulder and led her off towards the monolithic structure that was the FBI training academy. The two assistants with Walden cut the quick ties that bound the two students' wrists together and led them towards the infirmary for a thorough check over before releasing them for the night.  
  
"What's up Gerrod?  
  
"I've been in contact with the Director of the FBI. He's raised some concerns about your training these kids in Special Ops."  
  
This wasn't what she needed to hear. She'd just spent the last four hours out in the below freezing temperatures and in two feet thick snow. All she wanted was to go back to her townhouse, kiss Lina goodnight and then take a hot bath to soak out the tension knots in her shoulders. "He's going to have to realize that Special Ops is not something these kids can learn in a classroom. They need to be out there, interning in a unit for a short time to see what it's really like. I know, I was in the HNR for years - YOU know what it's like out there too!!"  
  
"Agent Sinclair..." Walden's voice was quiet in it's warning to her. He was right in a way. "He's objecting to your use of live ammunition in training scenarios, to the fact that you routinely take students out onto the streets in small groups and instruct them on how to run an operation."  
  
She sighed and rolled her eyes heavenward. The higher-ups had been constantly on her ass since she came back from deep undercover 20 months ago. "What do they want me to do, give them classroom instruction, show them a few diagrams on a chalkboard and then throw them out into the cold reality unprepared?!" She was near shrieking at her second mentor.  
  
Gerrod Walden had taken a liking to the younger woman when he heard of the determination that she'd pushed herself with in her undercover with the IAD and brought in a rogue agent who was on the take. He'd gotten her the training instructor position here at the FBI Academy almost a year ago. Litha Sinclair was one of the better instructors that he'd had the fortune of having and in the last year she turned out agents who were drafted into the Black Ops and Special Ops Divisions of the Justice Department. He put his arm around her and pulled her inside the building. "Calm down Litha. You know what the problem is."  
  
"Yeah. I turned IAD and all of a sudden I'm the Black fucking Plague. I'm going home, Gerrod, and get some sleep. I'll stop by your office in the morning."  
  
Things were going to be difficult for her when she came back to class in the morning. Gerrod Walden decided to tell her later then right now. She didn't need to hear right now that the head of the Justice Department wanted her back in the field.  
  
**** 


	2. Return To Duty

Litha didn't like being summoned from the middle of a lecture. She stood across the desk from the Director of the FBI, Special Agent Frederick Boone. He was a weaselly little man with pockmarks on his face and beady little eyes. The way he kept watching Sinclair didn't sit well with Director Walden either. He seemed to be on a mission, out to irritate Sinclair into making a wretched mistake.  
  
"You summoned me, Boone?" Litha's voice held such disdain and rancor that Walden was afraid that Director Boone would come over the desk and smack her down to the floor.  
  
"You're goddamned right I did, Sinclair. I have decided that your talents are wasted in this Academy. You're going back out into the field."  
  
"WHAT?? No! You can't do that!" She braced her hands on the edge of the desk and leaned forward, her eyes blazing emerald fire.  
  
"You watch yourself Sinclair, you're on thin ice with me. I can do any damned thing I want and besides, you have three unaccounted years of service that you owe the FBI. While you were out on your witchhunt, you deprived the Bureau of your services."  
  
"You sanctimoniuous sonofabitch! The FBI KNEW where I was and what I was doing! They sanctioned it, IAD gave me their blessings and so did Wallace. You have no right to pull me off of this and stick me back out into the field!!"  
  
"Guess again AGENT Sinclair. You owe us three years of field duty and you're going to give it to us. Someone else will finish your lectures this term and finish the next one for you. Try not to get yourself killed while out there, hm, Agent Sinclair? I'd hate to have to bury you a second time." He sneered at her as he walked by.  
  
"You. Can't. Do. THAT!! If you stick me back out there, Montcalvez's men will find me!"  
  
"You're being insubordinate, Agent Sinclair. If I were you -"  
  
"You, Director Boone, wouldn't know insubornidate if it fell out of the sky, landed on your face and started to wiggle. And IF you were me, you wouldn't be such a sanctimonious prick. You're just sore that Dodge caught onto Callahan's game before you did. Ohhhh that's right, you were only the ASSISTANT Director to Wallace at the time. Heaven forbid a mere field agent could pick up on a dirty agent. Or was it that Callahan was your protege and his IAD arrest looked bad for you." She made a small pucker in her lips and mewed at him. "Poor thing, I bet it just broke your heart when he was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences for all his crimes, and then layered with two additional life sentences for my attempted murder, and the murder of another federal agent in the line of duty."  
  
"BACK OFF SINCLAIR!! You're THIS close to being suspended indefinitely. You ARE going back out, you ARE going on a UC unit and until I decide better -"  
  
"What about my Lina?!"  
  
"Tough nuts Agent, you should have thought about that before you got yourself knocked up. Damned shame too. I read your dossier when I took over the office of Director. You were one of the best Recovery Agents out there. More good female agents have been lost to marriage or pregnancy then war, disease, famine or disaster. Sorry to say you were one of those casualties. Hire a nanny, let her father take care of her, whatever, I don't give a damn so long as you report to your assignment in two days."  
  
He brushed past Litha and walked out, leaving a fuming woman and a distressed Academy Director.  
  
"I'm sorry Litha. I should have told you last night that Boone was preparing to strike you down. You were just on such a roll with those two students last night that I couldn't lower the boom on you."  
  
"Well you damned well should have!" She flicked her hand and knocked the lamp off of the desk, sending it shattering to the floor. "The only reason I took the job you offered me is because of Lina. If I hadn't gotten pregnant, you and everyone else knows I would have stayed out in the field."  
  
"What are you afraid of, Litha? I know you're one of the best, second only to Donovan out in Chicago. So, tell me, what is it you are afraid of?"  
  
"What every Agent who happens to be a parent is afraid of. Saying goodbye and never coming back to say I love you. Gerrod, I can't do this. I can't go back out into field duty. My whole perspective has changed since Lina came along. I'm not as cold-blooded as I used to be. I have something else in my life to consider. Before, I never cared if I lived or died, as long as I got the job done. When I met Lina's father, I realized that there was more to life than duty. When I found out I was pregnant, I..."  
  
"You put in for a furlough from duty, upon which I called you up for a desk assignment teaching here at the Academy. And in the past year, you've been an admirable teacher. A bit unorthodox, but you're routinely one of the favorites of the cadets in your classes and the students who graduated from here last year have been put into special operations more than those from before your term here. Litha, you are a good agent, a good teacher and an intelligent woman."  
  
"Where... where is this assignment going to be?" She didn't want to talk about this any more than she had to. But, if she was going to have to uproot her daughter and move to another city, she might as well get to doing it. "It's a good thing that she's only 9 months old, Gerrod. Maybe she won't be too disturbed by this upheaval."  
  
"Oh she'll be fine. Here, Boone left it on my desk when he slithered his ass out of here." He handed the manila envelope to Litha. Across the front in big block letters was "CONFIDENTIAL" in red.  
  
"Jesus Gerrod. Last time I got a Confidential file, I spent three years pretending I was dead." She started to sit down as she opened the file.  
  
"Cheer up Litha, I can't imagine Boone sticking you out onto an assignment that's going to get... you... Litha?"  
  
The woman had gone pale. "Oh my god. He wouldn't."  
  
Gerrod took the file from her hands as she sat down like a rock in the chair. He read over the file. "He's putting you with Agent Donovan and his team for your first assignment? But, doesn't one of his agents have it in for you?"  
  
"Yeah, Agent Cross didn't take too well to me faking her death out in the middle of nowhere with two other undercover agents."  
  
"Oh I can imagine. Look, suck it up. You're on an assignment with Frank Donovan. I can't imagine him letting one of his agents take a personal vendetta out on you."  
  
"Oh Gerrod. You don't know the half of it." She leaned back in the chair and slouched down. One hand came up to run through her hair as she groaned. "He and I have a past."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"Yeah. He and I were dating before I had to fake my death. For three years he believed that he killed me. When the assignment was over, I disappeared for a month or so, to handle the arrangements and testimonies and subsequent conviction of Lewis Callahan. When that was done with, I waltzed back into his life like nothing had ever happened. What I didn't count on what his desire for explanations and demand for answers. He and I wound up fighting like cats and dogs for two months. It wasn't until after I'd moved out that... I..."  
  
"He's the father?"  
  
Litha nodded. "I didn't have the heart to tell him that I was pregnant. I knew that if I did, he'd try and pressure me into retiring from field service. That's why Wallace gave you my name for the Special Ops training position here at the Academy. Gerrod, I can't thank you enough for giving me this teaching assignment. You gave me the stability I needed when pregnant for Lina and the ability to have normal enough hours to raise her on my own."  
  
"So that explains what you're afraid of. You haven't told Donovan at all about Lina? And you're afraid that when he finds out..."  
  
Litha turned and looked out the window over the snow covered grounds of the FBI Academy. "All hell is going to break loose."  
  
**** 


	3. Dissent and Disagreement

Alex and Jake stared at Monica. "You're joking!" they both shouted in unison.  
  
"Do I look like I'm joking? Come on you two. This assignment isn't going to sit well with Frank either once he finds out." Monica gave them a look and dropped the file on the table between them.  
  
"Once I find out what, Monica?"  
  
All three of them jumped at the sound of Frank Donovan's voice.  
  
"Jesus!"  
  
"FRANK!"  
  
"Good God Don't Do That!"  
  
Frank actually had to smile at his three agents in their flustered state. He'd developed a knack for sneaking up on them when they thought he was nowhere nearby.  
  
"Where's Cody?" He leaned past Monica and brushed his fingertips along the tabletop towards the file.  
  
Alex quickly reached over and pulled it back from him as Jake started distracting. "I think he's down in his hidey-hole working on some new gizmos."  
  
Frank looked at Alex, slapped his hand down on the file and drug it along the table even as he shouted for Cody. "You guys are hiding something. You know it's no good to hide things from me, I always find out what it is." He opened the file and skimmed over the sheets inside.  
  
Everyone watched as his eyes flicked back and forth, slowly growing darker. That was the only indication that what was in the file was upsetting to him.  
  
"CODY!!"  
  
Monica cringed back as Donovan's voice thundered through the nest.  
  
"Yeah yeah, keep your trews on I'm right here." Cody sat down and sprawled out in the chair, his ever-present laptop in front of him.  
  
"One of these days, Cody, I'm going to shoot you."  
  
"Yeah, but then who would you threaten with senseless violence?"  
  
Monica elbowed Cody as Alex and Jake had to spring up and tear Frank back as he lunged across the table for Cody's throat. Cody screamed like a girl as his laptop went crash-bang to the floor and his chair toppled over backwards, sending him rolling tail end over applecart across the floor.  
  
"FRANK!!" Jake and Alex forced him down into a chair and held him there. "WHAT has gotten into you?"  
  
"Get. Off. Me."  
  
"Only if you promise not to try and choke Cody again. Jesus Boss, what's wrong with you? One minute you're actually cracking jokes and the next you're the wrath of God embodied." Jake moved in front of his boss and sat on the table. Cody was whimpering over his broken to bits laptop.  
  
"Maybe Monica should explain it all to you." Frank's voice had taken a slightly defeated tone to it and he'd stopped struggling to get his two agents off of his lap. Alex let go and backed up, Jake did the same. Frank just sat forward and braced both elbows on the table as Monica picked up the file jacket, putting the papers inside.  
  
"The agent we're being sent is one we all know. Alex, sit down for this one, you're not going to like it one bit."  
  
Monica pushed a mug of Earl Grey tea and lemon under Frank's nose even as Alex and Jake sat down. They both hauled Cody into a chair between them as Monica started talking.  
  
"Reymundo Montcalvez's brother has staged an upheaval and is moving the business back into the United States."  
  
Alex and Jake looked at one another. "Montcalvez? Isn't that the one..."  
  
" ... that the Hostage Recovery Specialist Callahan was in deep with..."  
  
"... and another... oh my god not her!"  
  
"Yes, her." Frank's forehead rested on his crossed forearms, his voice muffled in the sleeves of his black turtleneck sweater. "Agent Lillith Morgana Sinclair is joining us for a while."  
  
Alex's face registered her rather pointed displeasure at the thought. "No bloody way in hell Frank. I can't work with that bitch!"  
  
"Sit down Alex. You won't have to. I'm to go undercover with her. You and Jake are going under also, but in different circumstances." Frank raised his head up and gazed into the tea as Monica filled them in on the details.  
  
"Geraldo Montcalvez seems a bit put out that his big brother is in an American prison and is in the process of appeals to get him out under diplomatic visas and such. While he is doing this, his employess and lackeys are re-establishing Reymundo's old pipelines and contacts. Now, Agent Sinclair is stepping back into the shoes she wore for a while, Seska Broussard. Geraldo never met the woman and all the reports, transcripts and legal documents made available to him by his sources say that she was never apprehended and is still on the FBI's most wanted list for the murder of a Federal Agent. Frank is to go back under as Mr. Richards. Now, it was not too well known by those outside of this room that Alex Channing isn't dead. However, we had to make it known that she is to give Broussard the alibi for being hunted down by the FBI. She's still in good with our arms dealers in the US and in Canada. We have her covered on that aspect. Jake, you and Alex are going in as two potential buyers in competition with Broussard and company. Cody and I will monitor everything and maintain the wire taps and such. Frank, what you didn't get to read yet is that an old friend of both of yours is going to be here while you're all out playing in the field."  
  
Frank put down the mug of tea he'd been sipping and blinked. "Oh? Who?"  
  
"Adam Wallace."  
  
"Oh this ought to be priceless," he said.  
  
At Jake and Alex's confused looks over the man they knew as the former Head of the FBI, Frank explained it to them. "Adam Wallace sponsored Litha into the HNR units, and according to her own testimonies, gave her personal consent to go in deep cover to sting Callahan. Wallace is the reason Litha is where and who she is today."  
  
They were all so engrossed in their coversation over the assignment and the details that they didn't hear the door to the nest open and the woman's clicking footsteps across the concrete floor behind them.  
  
"Donovan, you look like shit warmed over. You really should take a furlough and get some rest."  
  
**** 


	4. Merciless Hearts

They all looked up to see Agent Lillith Sinclair standing in the doorway to the briefing room, in a black pantsuit and her trademark pristine white cashmere ankle length overcoat. Her long black hair was pulled away from her face in a french braid down her back and her 5'8" inches was propped up by 3 inch high heeled boots. Litha's emerald eyes sparkled superficially, like she was putting on a front of happiness when inside she'd rather be somewhere else.  
  
Frank and Alex stood up, Jake and Monica following suit. It was Alex who walked over slowly, Frank watching. Cody still sat at the table, pouting that his favorite laptop had been battered and smashed. Litha watched Alex walk over to her, but she didn't back up. Better to get it out of her sytem then to let it build up and jeopardize the mission.  
  
"Agent Cross."  
  
Alex's eyes narrowed slightly as she regarded the other woman. Vaguely she could hear Frank and Jake behind her. "Agent Sinclair."  
  
Litha smiled a cat-like smile and tilted her head slightly. "How's the neck? No ill effects from the tranqdart?"  
  
Alex's eyes narrowed reflexively and before anyone could stop her, Alex's right hand drew back in a fist and cut across Litha's cheek in a right hook. Litha stumbled back and tripped over her own high heels, dropping to the ground in a flurry of white cashmere. Alex was about to dive on top and continue beating the hell out of her when Jake and Frank grabbed both of her arms and drug her back. As Monica offered a hand to help her up, Cody piped up. "Damn. Remind me not to shoot Alex any time soon."  
  
Jake and Frank pushed Alex into a chair. Litha waved off Monica's hand and stood up. Already a bright red mark was making it's presence known on her cheek and her eyes were snapping in anger. "You're damned lucky I knew you needed to do that. But, you only get one free shot. The next one you try to throw at me is going to cost you Agent Cross."  
  
"YOU, Agent Sinclair, only get one shot at me too. But, lucky for me you already took it by trying to shoot me in the back!"  
  
"Oh get off it you silly little chit! You know damned well that if I hadn't done what I did, you'd've probably been dead shortly after that. Montcalvez had been told that you were an inside agent and if I didn't make your death look real then he'd have killed me, you and anyone associated with the two of us!"  
  
"I got $10 on Sinclair in five rounds." Cody nudged Jake.  
  
"You're on. But it'll have to wait until this mission is over." Jake winked.  
  
Frank had heard the two of them and frowned. "Jake, Cody, enough. Agents Sinclair and Cross, in my office now."  
  
Litha's head snapped around. 'Well, that didn't take long' she thought. With a sarcastic smile, she bowed to the side and allowed Alex to go first. Then she winked at Jake and followed.  
  
Once inside Frank's office, he closed the door behind them. Litha and Alex were standing front of two chairs that were before his desk. Litha and Alex were glaring daggers at one another, oblivious to Frank.  
  
"Sit down you two." Nothing...  
  
"SIT DOWN!" Still nothing...  
  
Frank put his hands on Alex's shoulders and forced her down into the chair. He started after Litha when she shook her head ever so slightly and her eyes narrowed to slits. He knew better than to lay his hands on her right now. He backed off as she sat down peaceably.  
  
"Now, I sure hope you two have this catfight out of your system. We're about to go into South America and I can't afford to have you two sniping at each other and trying to do physical harm to one another. I need you both on your game and 100% mentally focused. This is not going to be easy for either pairing. Agent Cross, do I have your promise on this?"  
  
Alex glared at Litha, who just smiled serenly back at her. "Alright Frank. But when this is over and we're back home, I'm going to kick this woman's ass from one end of the nest to the other." She stood up and walked to the door.  
  
She was halfway out of the door when Litha spoke up and said, "Bring your lunch girlie."  
  
In an instant, Frank was pushing Alex out the door and closing it behind her. "Please don't do that again, Litha. It's bad enough that you were put on this assignment."  
  
She slowly stood up, her eyes mirroring the ache inside. "Bad enough that I was put on this assignment? Tell me Frank, what do you mean by that? Bad enough it's me? Or bad enough that I'm on this assignment with you of all people?"  
  
She stepped closer to him, backing him up against the door. She stopped a few inches from him. Litha could smell his soap, the spicy scent of his skin. "I didn't choose to come off of my teaching post at the Academy, Frank. If it'd been up to me, the only way I'd ever work in the field with you again is if you asked me. And given the circumstances surrounding our last night together, I'd have taken sure bet that it would have been the fifth Sunday of never before you requested to work with me again."  
  
Litha backed up and slid her coat off. The pantsuit was well cut and accented her figure in all the right places. Frank couldn't put his finger on it, but she looked different somehow. "Look, we have to work together until further notice. From what I read in the file Boone left for me a few days ago, you and I are supposed to pass as lovers. Donovan Richards came to Broussard's employ AND bed shortly after the untimely death of his former employer, Alex Channing. If we're going to pull this off, you and I are going to have to get past whatever it is you're blaming me for."  
  
"Blaming you for? Oh yes, Lillith, let's remind me of that. What I'M blaming YOU for. God forbid I should just want some answers as to why I was led to believe that for three years you were dead and at my hand too, only to find out that you were IAD and not dead at all. Yes, yes, let's remember that I'm blaming YOU for that. Uh huh. Or is it that I'm blaming you for keeping other secrets and lies from me?" He was steadily backing her up, his eyes darkened to an ominous black as he did. Litha had never been frightened of this man before, but she was now as her legs bumped up against his desk.  
  
"Frank, I..."  
  
"You, what? Litha, I never asked more questions than I felt I had a right to know. Like why you never told me in the beginning, or why you felt like you didn't owe me any explanations for the three years before. All I wanted was to be inside of your mind and to understand why you felt the way you did. But you withdrew from me, like I was encroaching on territory that I had no right to be in." His voice softened a bit as he leaned in over her. Litha kept drawing back from him.  
  
'Must resist... cannot let him in...' she kept reminding herself.  
  
"What happened Litha? Why did you shut me out? You came back to me in the beginning, why did you push me away?" His lips clamped down over hers as he gripped her shoulders. Litha was nearly undone as his lips found hers, but she managed to rip her mouth from his and push him back off of her.  
  
"No, Frank. I didn't push you away. You forced me to hold you at arm's length. Your questions and interrogations made me feel like I was a suspect instead of your lover. I didn't push you away, you forced me out."  
  
She picked up her coat and pushed past him. "You remember that. You forced me out."  
  
**** 


	5. Blame or Innocence?

"When is this going to be over Litha?"  
  
Litha rolled her eyes and readjusted the earpiece microphone she had on to talk to her mother. If she hadn't needed to check on Lina so terribly then she wouldn't be having this conversation. "Don't start with me Mum. I told you before that I don't have a choice in this."  
  
"Oh that's right. You didn't have a choice. What were the options again?" Her mother's voice was bordering on sarcasm. But she knew better than to go that far because her daughter would just hang up on her if she did.  
  
"Either I do this, or I forfeit three years of my retirement and three years of pay. Boone has it in for me." Litha kept her voice quiet and her back turned to everyone. Even so, she could feel Monica and Cody's eyes on her the whole time. Alex and Jake were in Frank's office talking most likely about her.  
  
"Hm, let me see, three years of retirement and forfeited pay versus staying at the teaching assignment and kissing Lina every night. Tough choice."  
  
Litha hissed. "I said STOP it Mother! It's bad enough I can't see her every day and can't call you every day to check up on her either, I don't need you making me feel even more guilty about this."  
  
"Lillith. Please, I'm just concerned. You don't know how horrible it was for me to believe you were dead all those years..."  
  
'Here it comes,' Litha thought. 'The guilt trip about how I didn't even tell my own mother that I wasn't dead.' she groaned and put her head down on the desk to rest on her forearms. In one ear, her mother was droning on and on about how harsh it was grieving for three years and trying not to hate Frank Donovan.  
  
"Mother."  
  
"And that man, the one who they told me shot you, Frank Donovan... honestly Litha, how could you have slept with him after what he did to you!" Mother's voice was horrified at the thought. Even still she rationalized it that if Frank hadn't shot her (even though he really didn't, Callahan did) that her Litha wouldn't have had to pretend she was dead all that time.  
  
"Oh yes, Mother, let's lay all the blame at his feet. Totally forgetting that it wasn't him it was Lewis Callahan who shot me MOTHER. Get down off of your soapbox and leave Frank Donovan alone!" She hit the disconnect button and ripped the mic out of her ear to throw it down on the desk.  
  
Monica and Cody had heard the last statement, as Litha's voice had risen to a shout rather than a hushed whisper.  
  
"Everything alright, Agent Sinclair?"  
  
"No, Monica, it's not. And please, call me Lillith or Litha." She sighed and leaned back in the chair.  
  
Monica left Cody to his computers and sat down in a chair next to Litha. She picked up the earpiece microphone and toyed with it in her hands. "Mothers."  
  
Litha looked at her with a 'you have no idea' look. "Mine delights in making me feel guilty for being both a Federal Agent and a mot... daughter."  
  
The slip wasn't missed by Monica. Litha was hiding something? "I can assume from the last part we all heard that your mother blames Frank for your long absence from the real world?"  
  
"Yeah. Still. Even after I spent the last twenty months trying to tell her differently. She still blames him for it, says that if he hadn't shot me, that I wouldn't have been gone. It's completely not in her view that it was someone different who shot me."  
  
"Do you blame Frank?"  
  
"Stop trying to profile and anlyze me, Monica. Frank was never an issue with who did what."  
  
"Then why did you leave?"  
  
"Because he tried to pidgeon-hole me into giving him explanations that I felt he didn't need."  
  
"But, there's something else."  
  
Litha looked Monica square in the eyes. "Why would you say that?"  
  
"Litha, you and Frank were apart for three years, then together for two months, and then apart again for 18 months. I know that for a long while after you left, Frank was absolutely vile tempered. We were all afraid that he was going to hurt himself or someone else. Even Wallace flew in from D.C. to talk to him. You didn't even tell him where you were, Litha. What are you hiding from him?"  
  
"Who says I am? Maybe I just realized that I didn't belong in his life..."  
  
"You're lying."  
  
Litha smiled. "I'm a Federal Agent, a Special Operations Instructor, and an Undercover Agent. My lies are truth and my truths are lies. Let it go Monica."  
  
She stood and walked away towards Donovan's office. Monica wasn't satisfied.  
  
"I can pull the recordings of that phone conversation, Litha."  
  
"You do that Agent Davis. You go right ahead.. destroy three lives instead of one."  
  
**** 


	6. Opening Gambit

Frank looked out of the window in his office while Alex and Jake voiced their concerns about this assignment.  
  
"Frank, you can't be serious about going under with her as your only back-up." It was obvious that Alex didn't like this woman at all.  
  
"Alex is right. Frank, she dumped you and left without so much as a good-bye to you when she did. You might not remember, but we all were worried sick that you'd do something to hurt yourself after she left. We're still concerned where Agent Sinclair is involved. She's got some kind of hold over you that you can't shake."  
  
"It's called 'love', Jake. I'd think you'd know about that given your history with a certain car boost, hm?" Frank turned from the window as Jake colored a shade of pink and Alex frowned. "Come down off of it Alex. She's an excellent agent and she's teaching what she knows to the up and coming FBI graduates. They wouldn't put her in that sort of responsibility if she wasn't good at what she does. I'm as safe with her as I am with either of you backing me up. What's between Litha and I will remain so and I'm hopeful that this assignment will finally bring to a close whatever it is I did or said to her."  
  
"Monica thinks she's hiding something." Jake stood up and looked through the office door down to where Monica was talking with Litha. "She said so after you hauled her and Alex in here. Nice right hook by the way, Alex."  
  
"If she is, then she'll have to be the one to tell what it is when she's ready. Look, Jake, Alex, I appreciate your concerns where Litha and I are involved. But don't go too far in those good intentions. There is something I know that you two don't when it comes to Litha. And right now, it's best you leave her alone. Go get with Monica and get ready for this. Litha and I leave tomorrow morning for LA, then you two leave for Sao Paolo the day after."  
  
Alex and Jake left Frank's office just as Litha was climbing the stairs. She and Alex passed a glare between each other and Jake pushed between them, hustling Alex downstairs towards Monica. Litha shook her head. She and Alex might have to go at it before they all left, just so she could get it out of her system. Agent Cross was definitely harboring a lot of anger where it regarded her, and Litha knew it.  
  
She knocked on Frank's door and then stepped inside without waiting for him to answer.  
  
"Call off Monica."  
  
"From what?"  
  
"She's trying to profile me, analyze me. You know how I react to that. I slapped you out of your fillings when you tried to do it with me. Frank, I'm sorry for the way we left things. A lot happened all at once and I didn't handle it the way I know I should have." She sighed and leaned against the door, the knob clasped between her hands as she did.  
  
"I haven't set Monica to anything. What's she trying to do is make it easier for us all to function together. If she thinks there is something you're hiding that could jeopardize this mission, then nothing I say to her is going to make her stop. You know Profilers well enough, Litha, don't ask me for a miracle where she's concerned."  
  
She watched him for a moment, trying to sort things out in her mind. He watched her right back, his dark eyes trying to get past the shield she'd put up before she left him.  
  
"Why, Litha? Just tell me why."  
  
She sighed and looked down. After what seemed like hours, she finally spoke up. Her voice held a tremor in it. "Love was never the issue with us. We knew that each loved the other. I just couldn't handle your repeatedly asking me about my undercover stint. How many nights did I spend in the bathroom, in tears after you backed me up against a wall demanding answers? Frank, I couldn't tell you what you wanted to hear, what you needed to hear because I didn't have the strength."  
  
"And so you ran from me? You never backed down Litha, never. Why all of a sudden did you?"  
  
"You of all people know what it's like to go undercover. You wake up in someone else's world day after day. But you had the advantage I didn't - short term. I was in deep for years. I woke up to the mirror and I didn't see myself anymore. All I saw was her. I didn't know who I was anymore. But I had one driving force that kept me centered and that was the light at the end of the tunnel for me. I didn't think about you, Frank. I couldn't. If I did, I'd have broken down in tears more times than I care to count."  
  
"Couldn't? Or wouldn't."  
  
"Both, Frank. You think it was easy for me? Trying to forget about that one night? Every night I felt your arms around me as we danced in the snow, I felt your lips on mine as we kissed, I..." she choked a moment and looked away. "My world ended when I woke up in recovery and they told me what had happened."  
  
**** 


	7. Confession Is Good For The Soul...

Frank looked at her and sat down. Litha didn't move from her position leaning against the door. Her eyes fixed on a spot on the floor as she began talking. She couldn't look him in the eye as she did, afraid of what he'd say...  
  
"I didn't plan on what happened. When Dodge came to me and told me that he and IAD were investigating Callahan, I had no idea what they were planning. He asked me to help them out a bit with what information I could gather up for them. Of course, it was easy in the beginning. I was his mentor in the division, his elder officer and of course I knew everything that he did. In the beginning he was stupid about covering himself. He let it slip a few times that he had supplemental income, even offered to let me in once or twice. All this happened before I actually overheard his deal on the phone with Montcalvez."  
  
She took a deep breath and paused before continuing. "I never planned on falling for you, Frank. But I'm greatful every damned day that I met you. I tried so hard to keep you at arm's length, because I was afraid that you'd turn on me when or if you found out I was working with IAD. Three little letters can turn people against their best friend..."  
  
Litha fished a pack of cigarettes out of her purse, which she'd left dropped in the chair earlier. Lighting one up, she moved over and sat down in a chair opposite Frank, one leg sliding over the other. "Callahan began to get suspicious of me and it got harder and harder. He began flirting heavily with me, trying to draw me into his games and lies. That's why I never pushed him away or told him to stop. I know it was hard on you, watching him fawn all over me. I could see it in your eyes Frank."  
  
She took a drag on the cigarette and exhaled slowly. "By the time I actually witnessed his dealings, I'd fallen head over heels for you. I never figured you'd grow a pair and ask me out. But I was glad you did. You made me forget, even if for a short while, that I wasn't the enemy, that I wasn't a pawn in a game... that I was simply Litha and someone loved me. Ain't Fate a twisted Bitch."  
  
Frank's face was twisted up. He didn't want to relive this over again. But Litha was talking to him after nearly two years of silence on the subject of her sting... he'd be damned if he shut her up now.  
  
"I knew that Callahan shot me, even as you held my hand and shoved him out of the room. I just never counted on the higher-ups twisting the plot a bit. When I gave you my triskele, I fully intended on getting it back from you later. Of course, when opportunity presents itself, IAD steps in and makes life hell. They, of course, seized the opportunity and dummied up the facts. They let you believe you had shot me, let Callahan believe he hadn't, and told everyone that the shot was fatal. What they didn't do, was ask me. You can't even begin to imagine how severly angry I was when I woke up to an isolation unit in Virginia and was told that everyone now believed I was dead." She took another drag and let the bluish smoke drift from her lips as she fixed Frank with an eerie stare. "I broke my wrist in three places and spent 6 months in psychiatric therapy for the tirade I went on. I ripped open my stitches in the process and put Boone in the infirmary for 6 weeks. It was not pretty."  
  
Frank sat back.. The reality of what she just told him sank in and he felt low. All those months he'd held a wick of blame against her that she'd orchestrated the entire ordeal and then lied about it to him. But if she didn't, then he was wrong and had been for over a year...  
  
"Litha.. I..."  
  
"Stop, Frank. There was no way you could have known. And this is what I tried to get across to you in my own fuddled way. At the time, Wallace came to me, told me to cool it and that the sooner I got done with this, the sooner I could get in touch with you and let you in on everything. Frank, they told everyone I was dead and didn't even stop to think if I could handle the assignment. They told my mother, you, my team, EVERYONE. I snapped inside, it was like I had truly died on that floor. I made Wallace promise me that he'd keep in contact with my mother and let me know how she was, that he'd tell her if it became necessary to. I also made him swear on his honor to keep an eye on you. When did the nightmares begin for you, Frank? He told me of your 6 month furlough, of the nightmares, the one or two lost negotiations... I felt sick each time he talked about you. After a while I made him stop. Each time I wanted out, to just run to you and tell you it was all a mistake and that I was alive and in your arms and nothing would take me away from you ever again."  
  
"What stopped you?"  
  
"Dodge. He talked with Wallace shortly after I told him that I wanted out. Dodge came out to where I was and reminded me that if I came out of cover, then everything would be for nothing, Callahan would walk and be free to try and kill me again. I wasn't left with much choice after that. I shut you out of my thoughts until I actually saw you at my club."  
  
"Your club? Safe Haven is yours?"  
  
"Yeah." She chuckled and crushed out the cigarette butt in the ashtray on his desk. "A friend of mine from college runs it for me and it's under a corporate name. But it's mine and the rules are real. No sting, no criminal business. The local Police know that and so do the crooks. So far it's lived up to it's name. When I saw you there, with Cross, I knew it was time. I'd been getting pressure from Dodge to wrap it up quickly and Wallace knew I was coming unglued in the details. That's why he gave you the files, with my handwritten note inside. When Wallace assigned you to this case, he knew he had to tell you."  
  
"Wallace didn't assign that one to us. Boone did." He sat forward, a mix of concern and confusion in his eyes.  
  
She looked at him for a moment. "But... Wallace was Director... Boone assigned the case to you?"  
  
"Mmm hmm. He called me up personally and told me the details. The next morning we got the file jackets and started in on it."  
  
Litha sat back for a moment. Things were puzzling in her mind as she fidgeted with her nails. Boone assigned the case to them, knowing that she was in deep and close to busting Callahan? She stood up and walked to the window. Boone assigned her to this case too...  
  
"What are you thinking, Litha?"  
  
"That there is more here than Boone is telling either one of us."  
  
**** 


	8. Eyes Wide Shut

Later that night after everyone else had left for the night, Litha was still there. She was too tense to go to her hotel and sleep, so she was left with one option. She knew that the nest had a gym in it and she figured that she might as well use it.  
  
The room was cold, but she paid it no mind as she stripped down out of her suit and borrowed a pair of Jake's sweatpants. She'd had a knit tank top on under the suit for whatever reason. Maybe she was developing psychic abilities too. Her feet were bare as were her hands as she stretched.  
  
Maybe this assignment wasn't that bad. How hard could it be to pretend to be Frank's lover? Not that hard, she had been at one time. Enough so that she had a child by him... a child that he didn't know about... Lina even had her father's damned stubborn personality. When the child wanted something, she held out until she got it.  
  
She kept mulling things over as she finished her stretching. Popping her neck once, then twice Litha crept up on the balls of her feet and seemingly danced her way through the repeated jabs and hooks at the huge punching bag. Over and over she kept the right-right jab-left hook motions as she thought things over.  
  
He really did have a right to know about her. But now wasn't the right time. Left-left-right kick... He needed all of his mind on this game, as did she. Her phone calls to her mother were going to have to cease until this masquerade was over. Her right leg came up as she perched on her left foot and delivered a 1-2-3 repetitive kick first at waist level, then chest level, then jaw level. They'd get along well, Lina and Donovan. Both were thinkers. Even at 9 months old it was evident. She stepped forward with her right foot, swung with a right hook then followed through shifting her weight and spinning around so that her back was to the punching bag and drove her left elbow into the punching bag. Her voice was getting louder the longer she worked at it. Her knuckles were pink, her face was flushed and her hair, which she'd left unbound, was sticking to her face and neck.  
  
Jake happened to stop back by the nest and heard the sounds coming from the gym. He guessed it was Alex, judging by the way she kept glaring daggers at Litha all day. He thought about the bet he made with Cody - Sinclair in 5. Maybe he'd have to change that to a dead even match. Words couldn't describe the surprise he felt when he saw long black hair flying instead of Alex's short dark blonde.  
  
She jumped off of her right foot and kicked out with her left, hitting the bag square with the sole of her foot, causing it to shake backwards on it's chain. Whenever Lina watched something or someone, she had her father's analytical look. Dead straight gaze, slightly furrowed forehead, lower lip sticking out... the same look she had wanted to wipe off of his face more than once. With each sharp crack of her fist hitting the bag, she grunted, either in pain or anger she wasn't sure.  
  
"You really should have wrapped your hands first. Sprained wrists aren't going to help when you have to fire a gun."  
  
Litha whirled around to face Jake... wearing a small self amused smile.  
  
"Agent Shaw."  
  
"Jake, please. We're all on the same team until further notice. Late night workout?"  
  
"Stress relief. It was either that or shag Frank until his eyes rolled back into his head and he passed out."  
  
She said that with such a straight face, Jake wasn't sure if she was joking or serious. When she winked and turned back to the punching bag, he realized it was a jest. Jake came around behind the bag and held it for her as she resumed beating the stuffing out of it.  
  
"So what's eating you Litha? Can I call you Litha? You know, when you were presumed dead and really undercover, it was Alex who proposed the idea you weren't really dead."  
  
Litha hit the punching bag hard enough for Jake's head to snap back. "Bad subject? Alex or the undercover stint?" Again she decked the bag hard enough to rock Jake on his heels. "You know, I was on the file. Frank came back from D.C. with two files, yours and Callahan's. Took us the better part of the day, two orders of chinese take out and several pots of coffee just to get through Callahan's file. It wasn't until Alex came in from her assignment that night and saw the note you tucked inside your own file - nice touch by the way, using notepaper with a design dated 2001 in a file that hadn't seen the light of day since 1999. But it was Alex who noticed the date stamp. Frank still assumed you were dead." She hit the bag hard enough on that to send Jake back a foot or two. Sore subject he guessed and peeked around the bag. She had her fists curled up and braced against the bag. Her head was hanging a bit, her arms shielding her face from his view.  
  
"Am I a bad person, Jake? To not want to bare my soul simply because he asks me to?" She looked up at him.  
  
He sighed and leaned against the bag as he thought. "No. Not wanting to bare your soul is one thing. Keeping it all inside from someone who only wants to help you carry the burden and knows what it's like... that doesn't make you a bad person. That just makes you stupid." Jake pushed off of the bag and walked past her. "Very few people know what it's like to be us. We do the jobs that normal people don't have the stomach to do themselves. We become the criminals, touch their lives and they touch ours. We are forever changed by what we do. Why would you want to carry that knowledge all by yourself? Take a piece of advice - you don't have to carry it alone, you have someone who's in love with you and would never judge you for what you've done or will do in the future. People like that are rare. Treasure them."  
  
Litha turned and looked after him as he left the room. He sounded surprisingly like Frank at that moment.  
  
**** 


	9. Introspection and Plots

TWO DAYS LATER, LAX INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT  
  
Litha and Donovan had spent the day before in Los Angeles as Seska Broussard and Donovan Richards. They had cozied up in the luxury penthouse at the hotel and partied the night before with some of Seska's old contacts. They'd pulled it off successfully, a few of Seska's girl friends had commented that her new lover was a dish and it was obvious the two of them were so much in love.  
  
'If they only knew' she thought. The night had been spent in separate beds, in separate rooms. Even with as much as she opened up to Frank a few days ago, she still needed to be on her toes and if she let down her guard, Frank would be right there to catch the opportunity. And worse yet, he'd more than likely spot or even feel the C-section scar from Lina's birth.  
  
As she rode in the limo out to the airport, she thought back over the pregnancy. At first she was horrified. She was pregnant and her field life was over as she knew it. But when it dawned on her that it was Frank's baby, she changed her tune quickly. Frank's baby... Litha propped her chin on her hand and nibbled her fingernail. Her mother had been overjoyed at the prospect, even after she told her that it was 'that man's' baby. Mother for some reason, had taken a dislike to the way her daughter and Frank had parted and put all the blame on him for it. After getting over the initial shock of discovery, she put herself in for a furlough from active duty until further notice. Her mentor, Adam Wallace called her at her mother's and grilled her relentlessly about why and how she was going to explain this to Frank. She made Wallace swear on his honor once more in their friendship, that he would not tell Frank why she was on furlough. Then Wallace pulled a string and got her the teaching position at the FBI Academy. That's where she met Walden. The two of them took to each other instantly and became friends. He was there through the last few months of her pregnancy and even there when she went into labor.  
  
She chuckled softly. She'd managed to scare the old man half to death. Due to deliver any moment, Litha had insisted on being out in the middle of field training. He made her promise to not overdo it and she kept that promise. She stayed at the ops base during the excercise that evening and monitored the two cadet teams as they played their little war game against the each other. But the joy was short lived when one of the other instructors noticed that blood was on the chair as she stood up to go to the bathroom. Immediately she was flat on her back and the ambulance that was constantly on standby during these excercises was carrying her to the hospital. 14 hours of labor and pushing had worn the her out. Finally the doctor had told her that if they didn't operate, then she'd lose the baby. The baby was too big to fit through her petite pelvis and all the pushing wasn't doing anything but harming them both. Through it all, Gerrod was there with her. He walked her down to the operating room and was standing there when they wheeled out little Angelina Sinclair-Donovan. He was the first face she saw when she came out of the anesthesia and was already holding little Lina. The first time she held Lina, Litha cried. She was the spitting image of her father, right down to the fuller lower lip and dark hair. Her ears didn't stand out as much, Litha was happy about that. On Lina's father, it was one thing, damned sexy at times... but on a little girl it just wouldn't do.  
  
The car pulled to a stop out on the tarmac and the chauffuer opened the door. Frank watched as he did and smiled inwardly when Litha stepped out. Her long black hair was left loose and gone was the heavy wintery clothing they'd had in Chicago. It was a balmy 60's here in LA and she'd gone for lighter weight clothing. He watched the high heeled black pump settle on the ground, leg bare all the way up to the hem of her micro mini skirt. The suit itself was jade green and the hem of the skirt hit a good 4 inches above the knee. Damn she still had some of the best legs he knew of. Not even Alex's legs were that good looking. The jacket to the suit was double-breasted and low cut. Only he knew that underneath it was a lace camisole and her beloved twin Desert Eagles holstered in the small of her back. He had watched her dress this morning, making sure that she had the trace pinned somewhere on her body. He'd picked up the belt that held the custom made holsters and looked it over. There were no safety snaps on it and he gave her a questioning look. Litha explained as she put it on and buckled it over her camisole and skirt that since it fits in the small of her back and it's difficult to unsnap the safeties on such a position, there simply were none.  
  
Frank sucked in a breath as she stood up out of the limo. The wind was kicking up with the engines and causing a draft that was strong enough to lift her hair up into a whirlwind. Her long black trenchcoat was sucked up at the same time and as she stepped around the door towards him, he had a sudden vision of her as an avenging angel on wings of black coming down from heaven to set the wrong things right. This was going to get interesting. Litha was no longer trying to catch Callahan at his game - she was trying to stop another killer. She'd finally confided in him that the rules had changed and this wasn't going to be like before.   
  
'It seems that Montcalvez is on the road to getting his big brother out.' She'd told him last night after dinner. 'Geraldo's lawyers are making a case for wrongful arrest and imprisonment. I'm being sent down on this mission not only for arresting the junior Montcalvez, but to make sure that Reymundo isn't sprung. Wallace is working on the details from his end while I'm on this. I have to get Geraldo to trust me enough to give me some details. It won't be easy, but it's what I'm stuck with. Make no mistake, Frank. No matter what happens, my first priority in this game is to get the three of you home safe.'  
  
He stepped forward and took her coat from her as she stopped in front of him, his fingers lingering sensually over her shoulders. She smiled up playfully at him, completely keeping the guise of lovers up as she did.  
  
"Glad you made it. How was the shopping?" He lowered his head to brush a kiss over the curve of her neck as her hands found his derriere and gave it a squeeze.  
  
"Simply delightful" she purred in his ear. "it's all being shipped back to the house for when we come back from our little vacation in Brazil." Litha really HAD been shopping. While Frank was making the arrangements plausible at the airport, she was out doing some last minute shopping on her own time. There was a darling outfit for Lina and some new clothing for her for after this assignment. It wasn't everyday that she got to shop in Beverly Hills. She laced her arm around his waist and led him into the plane.  
  
The jet was piloted by Federal Agents and the one attendant was an old friend of Litha's from their days going through the FBI Academy themselves. So, once the door was closed, the pretense dropped and they all proceeded to get down to the nuts and bolts of the plan. Alex and Jake were flying in later that night to meet with Montcalvez at the same time they were. Once they had the negotiations started, it would only be a matter of time until one of the two pairings was offered the exclusive US connection in his endeavor. While that was going on, Seska would be cozying up to Geraldo in efforts to gain the information that would help keepr Reymundo in federal prison. But failing that, when the trade offer was made is when the arrest would happen. The Justice Department had already coordinated with the Brazilian government and had their own people in place so that everyone involved with Geraldo Montcalvez' business would go down at the same time. All neat, sweet, and simple.  
  
Both of them should have realized that things were never that simple when it came to undercover operations. As their plane was taking off, Director Boone was on the telephone in D.C.  
  
"I don't care. She's on the plane right now headed down towards Sao Paolo. In a matter of days this whole fiasco is going to be over and done with."  
  
"Boone, you are a twisted bastard you know that? I can handle you having a personal vendetta against this chick for laying you up in the hospital for a few weeks with a few broken vertebrae, but come on. The kid?"  
  
"Yes. You heard me right. If by some miracle she doesn't die in Brazil, then I want that little brat removed."  
  
"And the mother? It's gonna be difficult with the mother there watching the kid."  
  
"Whatever. Agent Sinclair is going to find out just what it means to make an enemy out of me."  
  
**** 


	10. Truth or Dare

As Boone was working feverishly on his plan for revenge, Litha and Frank were trying to relax while the plane soared through the sky blue towards Sao Paolo, Brazil. The other FBI Agent in the plane had settled back for a nap. Frank was talking to the pilot briefly, which allowed her to call home.  
  
"Mum? Yes, it's me."  
  
"Where are you? I tried calling the number you were at last time and got a rude man who said it was none of my business about where you were. Then I got a woman who put me through the third degree about who I was and if I really was who I said I was."  
  
"Mum, calm down. They're two Federal Agents like myself. And they did that to protect me. How are things there?"  
  
"We're fine dear." She sounded a bit calmer the longer she talked. Litha knew how close quarters were in the airplane and intentionally kept from mentioning her daughter or her name. "yes... hopefully I'll be back from Brazil in a few days."  
  
"Hell of a time for you to take a vacation Litha dear."  
  
"You know damned well it's not a vacation!" Litha hissed, loud enough for Frank to look back from the cockpit. She mouth the word 'mother' to him and he rolled his eyes. After four and a half years that woman had never endeared herself to him and vice versa. "It's business and if you don't stop being so evil to me I swear I'll never call you again when this is over!"  
  
The silence on the other end of the line told Litha that her mother was in shock. It also told her that her threat was being taken into consideration. "I love you, Lillith. You know that."  
  
"Yes, Mum, I do. But you have a way of being evil to me and everyone else."  
  
"I just worry about you and Lina. You should be home with her instead of out risking your neck."  
  
"Well, for once we agree. But you go to D.C. and convince Boone that I need to be back at the Academy. If you can do that, then I'll kiss you and every saint in Christendome." Frank had come back in time to hear that part and he smiled. For Litha to say that took an act of God, considering she was raised a non-christian.  
  
Litha's line beeped at her. "Mum, I got to go, I'm getting another call. Love you. Take care of everyone, alright?"  
  
"Love you too... and you know I will Litha."  
  
She sighed and switched the line over. "Sinclair."  
  
"Ahhhh, my star pupil. How the hell are you?"  
  
She beamed and elbowed Frank, then flipped a switch and put it on the speaker so he could hear. "Adam! How's things in Chicago?"  
  
"That computer geek runt is driving me insane. I don't know Frank puts up with him."  
  
"I threaten him with bodily harm on a regular basis."  
  
"Well, hello there Donovan!" Adam Wallace laughed and shook his head. He should have known that Litha would put him on speaker, even in flight. "Litha taking decent care of herself?"  
  
"She is. Keeping me at arm's length still, but she's in good health and such. What's up Adam? I'm glad you called to discuss Cody and all, but I have a feeling that's not the only reason."  
  
"And you'd be right. Litha, I need to talk to you in private, take me off this damned speakerphone."  
  
She did immediately and picked up the receiver. "What's up Adam?"  
  
"Two things. Both are IAD. Number One - I got a deal worked out for you. I pulled a few strings, turned over some rocks and got you a shorter sentence. You wrap this up and you're back at the Academy."  
  
"Oh I think I can handle that." She smiled at Frank and turned back to the phone. "And number two?"  
  
"Watch your back. I have it on good information that this is intended to be your last mission."  
  
Litha's skin paled visibly and her eyes widened. Frank was immediately took notice and sat forward. "Litha?"  
  
"Tell him, Litha. Tell him everything as soon as you can. There is no reason to hide things from him anymore. I'm sending four of my best men to your mother's home in case something happens while you're gone. Word has gotten out that the woman who lives there is the mother of Seska Broussard and rumors have come down that if anything happens to Montcalvez while you're in his presence, that your mother is to be taken care of as retribution and payment. Since Seska doesn't have a daughter, Lina is collateral damage to them if that happens. They might even try to use her to get to you. I'll do my best to protect them both, but I can't promise anything."  
  
Litha started shaking and dropped the phone. Frank was incredibly concerned as he pciked up the reciver from the seat. "Wallace?"  
  
"Yeah Frank?"  
  
"What's going on? Litha is shaking like a leaf..."  
  
"I told her the truth, Frank. And I suggested she do the same to you. Good Luck Frank." The line clicked dead.  
  
**** 


	11. And The Truth Shall Set You Free...

"You want us to do what?" Cody and Monica stared at each other.  
  
Frank shook his head and repeated himself. "You heard me. Trace the last call Litha made and find out where her mother is at."  
  
"But, Sir..."  
  
"No buts Cody. Do it. I'll explain later. When you've located her mother, I want you to bring her into the nest until we get back." Another wretching noise drew his attention to the lavatory where Litha had locked herself 15 minutes ago. All she'd said as she ran by was 'Mother'... "Monica, I have a reason to believe her mother's life is in danger. Bring her back to the nest until Litha walks through that door to take her home."  
  
"Alright Frank. We'll get it done. But I gotta tell you that I don't think she'll go peacefully. She called here yesterday looking for Litha and ripped both of us to shreds because we wouldn't tell her where Litha was. That Scots-woman is absolutely evil when it comes to her daughter."  
  
"I've met her mother. She's a scrappier version of Litha - and yes, she is evil. Get backup from Wallace if you have to. Monica, if necessary, you get in contact with an Aaron Dodge in D.C. and you tell him that I am sending you on this task. He'll give you the help you need."  
  
"Got it." Monica looked at Cody as she disconnected the call. Up in Frank's office, Adam Wallace had been listening in on the conversation. Apparently Litha hadn't told Frank anything yet if he was more concerned about Elizabeth Sinclair than Lina.  
  
Down below, Monica looked over Cody's shoulder as he worked his magic. Frank didn't know that she'd placed a call from the nest only a few days ago. It'd be a damn sight easier to track down that location than a satellite telephone call. She stood up and paced as the maps and numbers whizzed by on the screen. Her conversation with Litha came back as she did... 'my lies are truths and my truths are lies...' What was she trying to tell her by that? 'You go right ahead.. destroy three lives instead of one.' Monica stopped pacing and frowned. She'd had the feeling all along that Litha was hiding something from them, Frank especially...  
  
"Got it. She's living in a suburb of Detroit. Just a hop skip and a jump from here." Cody spun around in his chair. "My talents are so under-used in this manner. With my skill, I could be ruling the world. Instead Frankie Frankie Frankie has me playing telephone operator." He sighed melodramatically and looked up at Monica. "And with my good looks a la George Clooney, I could have it all."  
  
"Keep dreaming computer geek."  
  
Both turned to see Wallace standing just a litte behind them. What was it about senior JD agents that they developed a knack for sneaking up on everyone?  
  
"Frank set you two onto finding Elizabeth Sinclair?"  
  
"Yes he did. Told us to come to you for backup. He wants her here at the nest until Litha and he arrive."  
  
Wallace looked over the both of them. "Sit down you two. Mrs. Sinclair can wait a few minutes." He waited until they did as instructed and then took a seat himself. "Elizabeth Sinclair is fine. She's under surveillance as we speak. I've been on the phone with my people and my best agents are there protecting her and everyone in the house."  
  
Everyone in the house? Cody and Monica exchanged looks again. Frank hadn't said anything about other people there...  
  
"I saw that look. Yes, there is more than just her mother in there. But it's not my place to divulge that information. What do you know about Litha Sinclair and myself?"  
  
"Not much. She was your protege, you were the former head of the FBI. When you stepped down, Eric Boone stepped up and started ruling the Bureau with an iron fist."  
  
"Correct, computer-boy." Cody wasn't liking this man at all. At least Frank called him by his name from time to time.  
  
"Litha is still my protege. When she left Frank, she called me for help. I pushed her paperwork through for the indefinite furlough and contacted a friend of mine in Virginia. You two might know his name - Gerrod Walden, Ddirector of the FBI Training Academy. He owed me a favor and when I called it in, Litha Sinclair landed a nice position on tenure at the Academy... teaching Special Operations and occassionally running Black Ops training drills."  
  
Monica and Cody were thunderstruck. They knew she'd put in for the furlough, and they knew she was at the Academy. But in Black Ops and Special Ops? From what Jake and Alex had told them about Black Ops personnel, you had to have a few screws loose to run in Black.  
  
"Yes, she ran Black Ops training drills." Wallace had seen the looks on their faces and knew what this would mean in regards to their treatment of Litha when she was back home. "She's still IAD of course - and Special Ops. When she came back from her undercover stint, she returned to Washington to debrief and give testimony against Callahan. By then we'd identified Callahan's associates in this muck and realized that it went a lot further than just him. That's why she was gone for a month. We convinced her to return to us as an IAD Associate to collect information and evidence against the other accomplices. In a ploy, I stepped down as Chief Director and Boone took my place. There is a lot more detail that I'm leaving out for the sake of time, but leave it at this. Boone was implicated by another lesser agent accomplice. He has a revenge fantasy against Litha the likes of which haven't been seen yet and he doesn't believe in an eye for an eye - he wants humiliation. We've uncovered evidence that he's got his dirty little fingers into this current mission up to his elbows and will do everything he can to either kill or severely punish Litha for what she did to him 4 and a half years ago. He's a sad, depraved little man." He stood up, leaving Monica and Cody with their mouths open in shock.  
  
"Collect yourselves you two. You still have to help me monitor Frank and his team's progress with Geraldo Montcalvez. Tomorrow we'll go to Detroit and get Elizabeth, bring her down here."  
  
--  
  
Frank was standing at the locked lavatory door in serious concern. Litha had been in there for over 30 minutes now. He could hear her occasional sobs and the once and again wretching... though the latter had turned to dry heaves. The other Agent on board with them kept watching him as he paced. What had Wallace said to her that upset her this badly? One moment she was giving a thumbs up and laughing, the next she was shaking like a leaf and running for the bathroom. He'd never seen her this bad before... And they were due to land in Sao Paolo shortly. Again he knocked on the door.  
  
"Litha?"  
  
"g... go away... F-Frank..." again with another heave.  
  
"Litha, open the door." He wanted to break the damned door in and pick her up, but he kept his voice controlled and calm. If he did that, she'd shut him off again.  
  
"No... I... I... oh god Frank what am I going to do?" She was in tears again... at least she'd stopped heaving for the moment.  
  
"You, Lillith Morgana Sinclair are going to live up to both of your names and collect yourself. Then you are going to open this fucking door and talk to me. I know your mother is in danger. I put Monica and Cody onto finding her and bringing her to the nest as soon as possible until you arrive to take her home." He waited for her reaction.  
  
There was dead silence on the other side of the door. After a minute, the sound of the toilet flushing heralded the opening of the door. Perhaps a bit too forcefully as Litha stumbled before catching herself. Even for the 30 minutes of sobbing and wretching, she still looked decent in her makeup. Thank God for waterproof. If anything she was just a little pale and green around the gills, which a glass of water and some time to calm down would fix. Frank put his arm around her and led her back to her seat. She looked up at him with one blue eye and one green eye. Uknown to her, while she was losing her last three meals in the airplane toilet, she'd managed to lose one of the blue colored contacts. Frank just shook his head. He'd tell her later when she was calmer.  
  
"It's not just my mother, Frank."  
  
His attention was back on her now. She leaned forward and took his hands in hers. So petite against his, but both pair of hands held infinite strength behind them.  
  
"There is a baby there too. A little 9 month old baby girl. My mother is watching her while her mother is out of town."  
  
"Then Monica and Cody will bring the baby back to the nest as well. I'm sure your mother will -"  
  
"No. Frank. You don't understand..." She looked at the other Agent a few seats back. He got up and left them, heading into the back of the plane to give them some privacy.  
  
"It's my baby."  
  
**** 


	12. Let The Game Begin

Jake and Alex looked at each other as they stepped from the private jet. They were supposed to arrive second to Frank and Litha. So where were they?  
  
Geraldo Montcalvez stepped out of the limo on the tarmac and smiled. Things were happening smoothly. He held an ace that these American's didn't know about. But in due time he'd play it. For now, better to play the inviting host and potential business partner.  
  
"Bienvenidos! Welcome to Sao Paolo! I regret that we could not meet in my home country, but I find the climate and locals here much more inviting. I have a limosine waiting for the two of you, if you will step this way."  
  
"Senor Montcalvez" Alex stepped forward as Jake slid behind her. "We were told that another investor was on the way down. I don't like being second guessed in my business dealings."  
  
Montcalvez turned and looked at her. "They ran into a headwind over Baja Mexico. They will be arriving shortly. My driver will take you back to the hacienda where you can settle in before dinner."  
  
Alex looked at Jake again. This wasn't right, didn't feel right. But they had to wait for Frank and Litha to show up before anything could be done. Maybe they did hit a headwind on the way down... Both of them sank into the back of the limosine and were whisked off towards the Montcalvez private residence.  
  
--  
  
"Agents Donovan and Sinclair, we'll be arriving within the hour." The pilot looked back. Since Agent Sinclair had made a beeline for the bathroom, things had gotten kind of dicey with the weather outside. Then all of a sudden it fell silent in the cabin.  
  
Frank nodded to the pilot from where he sat. When Litha made her statement, he sank like a rock back onto the seat. She had a baby? His mind flashed back to when he first saw her a few days ago. He'd thought she looked different, now he supposed he knew what it was. His sister had always told him that being a mother changes the way a woman looks to the rest of the world.  
  
He looked up at her. She was watching him with her mismatched eyes. What was he seeing in there? Fear? Not Litha... or yes? 'There is a baby there too. A little 9 month old baby girl...' her words to him mere moments ago struck him. 9 months old... He stood up and walked back towards the lavatory.  
  
Litha watched him silently. There, it was out and she'd said it. Well, most of it. She still hadn't told him that Angelina was his. She wasn't sure how he'd take it when she did.  
  
"Agent Sinclair..."  
  
Litha turned to the other agent in the cabin, her friend Darrin... "Yes?" her voice was soft, on the verge of defeat almost. Or was it just her honest voice, the one that'd been hidden for so long? She didn't know anymore. 'Why won't he say something?'  
  
"Your eyes." He nodded towards her and held out a mirror for her to see.  
  
Frank listened to them, his back still to Litha as he did the math in his head. 9 months old... average pregnancy is 9 months unless the baby was premature... 18 months give or take a month either way... She left him 18 months ago, almost to the day... even so, was it possible? No way, Litha would have told him... wouldn't she?  
  
"You will also need to change clothing Sinclair. I don't think you want Montcalvez ogling your legs and I doubt that Mr. Richards would take too kindly to that. There is a spare set of colored contacts in your bag, I packed them just in case, along with a change of clothing. I'll close the curtain for you." Darrin ushered her past Frank into the rear of the plane cabin and whisked the curtain closed. He then turned to Frank.  
  
"Talk to her. You are the reason she was afraid of taking this case. I've known Litha since we went through the Academy together. I know how hard it was for both of you for her to go through what she did for three years. I make no excuses for her keeping secrets from you, Agent Donovan. But I'm sure she had her reasons all the same."  
  
Frank looked at the younger man. The kid had to be only a few years younger than Litha, if that. If they went through the FBI Academy together then he couldn't be that much younger. With a nod, he pushed past him and through the curtain.  
  
Litha was nude save for a black silk thong and matching bra. The suit she had been wearing was laying on the seat next to her, the twin holsters on top of that. She froze as he entered, not quite turning to look at him.  
  
"Look at me."  
  
She slowly turned around, unembarrassed by her lack of clothing. His eyes swept down her. It'd been over a year since he'd seen her this close to naked. Even this morning she already had her skirt and camisol on when he walked in. His dark eyes lingered on the slightly pink scar just above the edge of her thong.  
  
Litha blushed and automatically moved one hand to cover the scar as she looked away.  
  
"Look at me Litha."  
  
After a moment, she turned her head back and looked him square in the eyes. He was mere inches from her and moving her hand from the scar. His hand flattened out over the scar, warm and firm. "Is she mine?"  
  
Her eyes turned glassy with unshed tears as she nodded. "The very spitting image of you."  
  
**** 


	13. Seska and Donovan Arrive

"Agents Sinclair and Donovan, we'll be landing shortly. I advise you both to get dressed and sit down while we land. You've got 15 mintues." The voice over the intercom crackled a bit and Frank sighed. Explanations would have to wait for later... again.   
  
He looked down at Litha, who looked a bit relieved as she backed up and slid on the clothing laid out for her. The well tailored black slacks matched a royal blue silk camisol that went under an equally well tailored black suit jacket. In a matter of minutes she was dressed and had her holsters back in place, boots in hand as she walked back into the main cabin.  
  
Litha was shaking inside. Finally it was all out in the open. That wasn't so difficult, was it? Hell yes it was... She slid her boots in place and took the jewelry offered. She'd already put the second blue contact in and once more Seska Broussard was living large.  
  
"We will talk later, in private." She slid a pair of sleek black sunglasses on as she made the statement, then sealed her identity by twisting her hair up into a sleek twist and stabbing an ornamented hairpick into the twist.  
  
Frank leaned back in the seat, his imagination running wild. He had a daughter. Litha said that she was his spitting image. She'd have dark hair of course, preferrably her mother's black hair. What was her name? Did Litha have a picture of her? He wanted to ask all these questions to her, but Litha wasn't there anymore, Seska was in her place. He felt the plane sinking, coming in for a landing.  
  
The gears shifted and the wheels came down. In a few minutes the game would be on once more. The plane jolted lightly as they set down, Litha never showing if it jostled her. The plane slowed down tremendously as the pilot came over the intercom. "Miss Broussard, Mr. Richards, Welcome to Sao Paolo Brazil."  
  
One last touch, she pulled out her lipstick and compact, slicking on a dark red glossy lipstick before she stood up. The flight attendant opened the door and lowered the steps down. Frank stuck his head out first, clearing the way and made his way down. He turned and held a hand out to Litha, helping her down the stairs. Geraldo Montcalvez was already on the tarmac, waiting for them both.  
  
"Ahhh Senora Broussard! Welcome, Welcome. I am glad you could make it down to me. You are as lovely as the rumors report you to be. Come, come, the limo is waiting. We shall go to the main house where you can relax and freshen up before dinner. I hope you don't mind, but I have two other guests already here. They will be joining us for dinner tonight and over the next few days." Montcalvez swept both Litha and Frank into the one limo and closed the door behind them. He himself stepped into the second and it led the other through the streets.  
  
"That was a private air strip, Donovan." Litha had to be careful of what she said. This wasn't a clean place after all.  
  
"Of course Seska. Did you think that it'd be open to the public?"  
  
"nooooooo Donnie, I was under the impression that it would be a little more frequented... like Sao Paolo International." The arrangements said nothing about a private air strip outside of the city. Of course, the Montcalvez spread was far outside of Sao Paolo itself, as far removed from the metropolitan city that the Academy was from Washington D.C. "He said two other guests... I wonder if it's that woman and her business partner that we've been running up against from time to time."  
  
"It'd be a safe bet. I recognize the plane." Alex and Jake's plane had been parked on the far side of the tarmac. They both saw a small guest house. It was a safe guess that the pilots of the two planes would be put there at the landing strip. According to the sketched out plans, when the time came, one of the planes would have to be left behind - or used as a prison transport to bring Montcalvez back to the United States, depending on how the situation developed.  
  
"I wonder what's for dinner..." Litha made the absent remark as she watched the scenery go by.  
  
"If I had my way..." Frank's hand slid up the inside of her thigh slowly and the tone of his voice was so loaded with innuendo that Litha blushed to spite herself.  
  
"You're insatiable and incorrigible." She chuckled and put her hand over his, stopping it from going any further. If only they were in private, she'd make him finish what he just started. As it were, the ride was over before it began and the limo was slowing. Now she'd have to suffer through a few more hours of being that close to him... and wanting him that much more.  
  
**** 


	14. Dinner.... Or Dessert?

Litha was escorted to one of the larger suites in the sprawling estate home. Frank was in the next room and they both could only guess that Alex and Jake were somewhere in that hall as well. But it was all she could do to remain conscious when she flopped down face first into the huge bed. It wasn't until she felt a hand on her shoulder that she groaned and peeked one eye open.  
  
"Hello Donnie."  
  
"I hate that name. Why can't you call me Donovan?"  
  
"I'm exhausted. Remind me not to do a dinner date immediately after an international flight. I'm not as young as I used to be."  
  
"You couldn't tell by me. I found where our competition is. He's in the room across from you, she's in the room across from me. One big happy family you could say." He winked and grinned. Trust Frank to find the humor when no one else could. "Dinner is in an hour, casual. I think you can leave these here." He patted the small of her back where her guns were holstered. "Oh, I almost forgot. Apparently your assistant Darrin found his way here after creating a ruckus at the airstrip after we landed. Why didn't you tell me that the attendant on the plan was your assistant? I think our host will want to speak to you about that when he greets us at dinner."  
  
Litha rolled over and propped up on one elbow. The edge of her silk camisol dipped a bit low and the creamy swell of her breasts was very visible. Visible enough to stop Frank in his tracks. "Well, aren't you just a busy little bee. How do you do it? International flight, you're a year or so older than me and had no sleep last night, yet you're still moving around like you just got out of bed."  
  
"It's practice. I have to keep up with you. I think a pair of white slacks and a blue blouse will be just perfect for you. And sandals to show off those pretty red toes of yours." He winked and disappeared out the door.  
  
Litha flopped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. If he didn't quit being so perky, she might have to kill him.  
  
--  
  
An hour later, Litha reappeared from her bedroom, looking fresh and energetic. It was all a carefully faked appearance of course. Inside she was ready to collapse from the flight and the burden of keeping secrets from Frank. Like he'd suggested, she was wearing a pair of crisp white slacks, a blue silk wrap blouse that tied at the waist and dipped low enough at the neckline to distract a saint. The medium high heels of her sandals clicked softly as she walked along the tiled hallways towards the dining room. 'oh great Litha. show up late...'   
  
She smiled as she walked in behind the house gentleman as he led her to her chair. It, naturally she thought with a mental sigh, was at Montcalvez's right hand with Frank right next to her. Across from her was Alex, Jake beside her. At the other end of the table was a woman she could only assume to be Montcalvez's wife. Litha didn't remember if he was married or not. But, she was the hostess and during the evening she played that role quite well.  
  
Jake had troubles keeping his eyes off of Litha's cleavage - which both Frank and Alex helped him with by either jabbing him in the ribs with an elbow or stomping on his toes under the table. Needless to say, poor Jake was jerking and apologizing all through dinner. Litha just chuckled and paid it no attention as she charmed Geraldo to the best of her ability. Alex was right up there with her in the charms... and to spite themselves - or each other depending on how you saw it, they actually had a lot of fun trading the pleasant barbs back and forth. If Alex could ever get over the hostility she felt towards her, Litha thought they might actually be able to be friends.  
  
During the lull between the appetizer and the main course, all four of them nearly suffered a heart attack.  
  
"Senora Broussard, I am a bit put out with you."  
  
Her head snapped back to Geraldo. Alex leaned forward a moment and Frank sat up in his chair a bit. "You... are? By what, may I ask?"  
  
"Your assistant, the other gentleman from the plane. You did not tell me you were bringing anyone else down with you. I did not have a room prepared for him and it was unpleasant to have him standing around while we scrambled to get him a room."  
  
Jake breathed a soft sigh of relief and Alex grinned at Litha. Frank's hand clenched on her thigh and Litha herself flush red. "I am so sorry. I did not know until the last minute that I would be bringing him with me. You should have said something. Donovan could have slept in my room with me and my assistant could have had Donovan's room. In the future, I will remember to call with last minute changes." She smiled graciously and offered an apology to the woman at the far end of the table. This seemed to appease Geraldo and dinner continued as if nothing had happened.  
  
Occasionally during pauses in the conversation, Litha felt Frank's hand on her thigh again. 'oh stop that' she thought. 'stop it or I'll make a scene by excusing myself to drag you back to my bed by your hair...' To cover it, she put her hand on his and halted it's progression up her thigh. After the main course, Frank turned the tables by grasping her hand, holding it in his tightly. She looked down at their entwined hands, then up at him.  
  
"Senora? Are you alright?" The woman's voice halted conversation at the table.  
  
"hmm? oh, yes. It's just been a while since a man held my hand during dinner." Litha smiled, not able to tear her eyes from Frank's. When he smiled, she noticed the ever so tiny crinkles at the corners of his eyes. The silver patches at his temples set of his eyes so well, light contrasting the darkness. Maybe she'd forego dragging him off by his hair and just go at it there on the dinner table...  
  
Montcalvez laughed. "Why, Senora Broussard how charming. I do believe that is called romance, no?" Litha nodded and wondered if anyone would be offended if she dropped Frank to the floor and had mad passionate sex with him right there...  
  
"I think it's simply delightful." Senora Montcalvez smiled and signalled for dessert.  
  
Frank wouldn't let go of her hand. If he didn't soon, she'd have to eat with her left hand and that wouldn't be a pretty sight. She gave him a gentle look that reminded him it would be impolite to not at least eat a bite or two of the dessert. To which he released her hand... only to lay his hand on her thigh again. Litha felt her cheeks flush as she nibbled a bite of the cut fruit in cream and liquer sauce. Was it the alcohol or Frank? She found herself wondering what he'd taste like if she licked this scrumptious sauce off of his body inch by inch. It was the heat of the tropics... or was it the lush surroundings?   
  
Whatever it was, it was playing havoc with her libido - and targeting Frank Donovan as the one to quench that thirst.  
  
**** 


	15. Twists And Turns

While Frank and company were enjoying dessert in Brazil, night had fallen on the rest of the world and brought sleep to everyone. Peaceful dreams abounded in the household of Elizabeth Sinclair as four Federal Agents roamed her house. Two were posted outside on the street, one in her front room, one in the back yard and one across the street in a neighbor's house. Little baby Lina had drifted off after a two hour long battle of wills in her grandmum's arms. The one agent smiled as he looked in on the baby during his routine patrol of the house. She looked every bit the angel as she slept. Quite different from her mother of course. He knew her mother to be hell on wheels during their training ops. Of course, perhaps the kid was too when fully conscious and on a tear.  
  
The agent moved back to the front of the house. Mrs. Sinclair was snoring softly in her room and he checked in with the other agents. One by one they reported in 'all clear' and he settled down on the couch for a little while. Why anyone would want to drag Agent Sinclair's mother and child into this was beyond him. But then again, Sinclair had managed to piss off some pretty hot-tempered people in the last four years.  
  
It was dark, approaching midnight there in Birmingham Hills, Michigan. There was a new moon that night and clouds drifted overhead, blocking out the random starlight. Shadows were rampant on the ground and no one truly noticed the movements from across the street. Silently one form raised a pistol capped with a silencer, the red laser target centering on the back of the agents' heads in the car on the street. A soft 'thwip' sounded and the first agent fell dead across the steering wheel. A second later the same happened with the agents in the passenger seat, causing him to fall sideways in the seat over his partner. The agent in the back yard of Elizabeth Sinclair's home was targeted from the sidewalk, the agent falling abruptly to the ground as if someone had cut the strings from a marionette. The two forms then kicked in the front door, the noise startling the agent on the couch even as he saw the laser sight too late.  
  
The noise of the door being kicked in also woke up Mrs. Sinclair, who jumped out of her bed and began running for the baby's room even as the agent in the front room was killed. A pair of hands grabbed her by the shoulders and jerked her down to the ground. Elizabeth struggled and fought back against the person trying to hold her down. The kicking in of the door and ensuing scuffle woke up Lina, who proceeded to demonstrate the gift of her mother's incredible lung capacity by screaming as loud as possible.  
  
"Jesus shut that kid up!"  
  
The one finally decked Elizabeth across the face and dropped her unconscious to the floor. The second reached in and picked up the baby, cooing gently. He had children of his own and in no time had the little girl calmed down so that she wasn't screaming anymore, just the occasional sobs and sniffles. Elizabeth was hauled up over the other man's shoulder and both men walked out of the house as calm as you please, leaving a trail of carnage behind them in the form of four dead Federal Agents.  
  
--  
  
Down in Brazil, Litha was pacing the floor in her room. "What the hell is wrong with you... you should be sleeping instead of pacing the floor..." Litha sighed and hugged herself tight. She just couldn't sleep. Ever since dinner she'd felt ill at ease. She didn't know if it was the sudden resurgence of her overwhelming lust for Frank Donovan's presence and body or if it was something else.  
  
She was so wrapped up in her thoughts she didn't hear the door open and Frank sneak up behind her. So when he put his hands on her hips, she jumped and threw an elbow, catching Frank in the chest. He stumbled back, coughing and wheezing...  
  
"jesus..."  
  
"OH!! You... You.... OH!" Litha reached out and steadied him as he was weaving on his feet. The blow to his chest stunned him. After coughing a few more times, Frank finally got centered enough to stand up.  
  
"What the hell was that for?"  
  
"You startled me. You of all people should know better than to sneak up on me." She was rubbing the spot on his chest where she'd nailed him. "Frank, I -"  
  
He shut her up by dragging her up against his chest and crushing her lips to his. What he'd come in to talk to her about would have to wait until the morning. The mere feel of her hands on his chest had pushed all sane thoughts out of his brain.  
  
Even though it was dead silent in her room, Litha could hear the sound of rushing wind in her ears. God how she missed him... she didn't realize it until he'd actually touched her, kissed her. She didn't want him to stop and put up no protest as he walked her backwards. Her hands roamed all over his chest, pushing his shirt back over his shoulders. God he was beautiful... Her lips left his long enough to kiss their way down his neck and across his shoulders after she'd yanked his shirt off and tossed it aside. Frank's hands pushed aside the soft silk robe and slid around her waist as he continued to manuever her towards the bed. All he could think of was how good she felt under his hands and against his own body. But when he felt her teeth sink into his shoulder, a deep shudder ran through is body and he lost control, pushing her down onto the bed.  
  
--  
  
Aross the hall from them, Jake was knocking on Alex's door. He had to knock a few times as she was so deeply asleep that she didn't hear him at first. However, she did eventually wake up with a soft four letter word. Alex wasn't a nice person when she was prematurely woken up and as such, she ripped open the door with a snarl.  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
Jake jumped back a bit, then a grin split his face. Was that really Alex? Her blonde hair was helter skelter and she had no make-up on. Not to mention her eyes were mostly closed and she had a red spot on her forehead where it rested against her arm while sleeping.  
  
"ohhh blackmail evidence. If I only had a picture."  
  
"Oh shut up and get in here. What are you doing up at this time of night?"  
  
"Our lovebirds are at it." He snickered conspiritorially and closed her door behind him.  
  
"and that's something to wake me up over?" Alex was getting crankier by the minute.  
  
"I thought you'd say that. But that's not all. Come with me." He led her into the bathroom and turned the shower on full force, just in case there were taps in the room.  
  
"There's someone besides Geraldo and his wife here in the house. I can't put my finger on it, but someting isn't right. Not once did the subject of business come up."  
  
"Of course not Jake." Alex sighed and ran her hand through her tangled hair. It laid down a bit and she leaned up against the wall. "That was a welcome dinner. He's not going to just blurt out his intentions. He wants to get to know us first, see what we're really like and who he wants to do business with. Besides, there is the house staff here too."  
  
"No, there's someone or something else. Call it gut instinct, I just know that something else is going on here."  
  
"Maybe it's just the two 'lovebirds' as you put it so nicely keeping up with the act. Look, Jake, if you're so worried, go tell Donovan about it."  
  
His face took on a horrified look. "And interrupt their wild animal sex? No thanks. I saw both of their faces at dinner tonight. If Litha hadn't controlled herself, I think she'd have shagged him right there on the table for one and all to see."  
  
It was Alex's turn to look horrified. "oh now that's a visual I wanted to sleep on - the images of our fearless leader getting nasty with the one woman I can't stand. Thank you, so very much. Go back to bed Jake, before I shoot you and tell Frank you had an accident."  
  
**** 


	16. Traps And Pitfalls

Frank sat up with a start. He wasn't in his room... then he realized that he was in Litha's room, in her bed... alone. Looking around showed that it was well after sunrise, probably midmorning by the looks of things. Why didn't she wake him? Better yet, why didn't he wake up when she moved? He always used to wake up when she shifted next to him...  
  
The second thing he noticed was that he was sore all over. Luckily he didn't have a bruise where she hit him in the chest... but his muscles ached all over his body. Looking down at his chest revealed just how many soft bitemarks she'd left him with. That was one thing that constantly turned him on about Litha - the fact that when aroused, she bit like a wild cat. Fortunately she never bit hard enough to break the skin or bring blood up, but just enough that it was an incredible turn on to him. The thought alone brought a wide 'cat that ate the canary' grin to his face as he wandered, buck naked, into the bathroom for a shower.  
  
He half day-dreamed while showering, too many incoherent thoughts rambling through his brain as he lathered up, then rinsed and reached for a towel. The shower would have been infinitely more enjoyable if Litha had been there with him... but all the same, he supposed it was time to go hunt her down and see if she was just as sore as he was.  
  
--  
  
Litha and Alex were out with Senora Montcalvez, horseback riding through the property. The woman was sweet and charming, full of information about the history of Brazil. Come to find out, she was a Brazilian National, married to Montcalvez after he emigrated there. She had no idea of what sort of business he was in and everything was hers from her side of the family. The estate, the house, the money - everything. Montcalvez was living on borrowed money. Litha and Alex exchanged more than one set of sad looks. This was going to break the woman's heart when her husband was arrested.  
  
More than once Litha drifted off into a semi-lucid daydream about the night before with Frank. Her thighs and hips were a touch sore from the exertion. If she was feeling this way, she could only imagine what Frank was feeling like. When she grinned, Alex had a damned good idea of why.  
  
--  
  
Jake was out wandering the property, taking in the sights of the house itself. He was really scouting things out, but covered it by asking questions about the pieces of art and the architecture. The house staff was more than willing to answer his questions, taking pride in the house itself and the rich Braziliano history.  
  
He kept a mental tally of the number of rooms and where they all were as he explored the house. No where to be seen, however was Geraldo Montcalvez. Nor did the house staff remember seeing him that morning. It was as if he'd vanished after dinner that night. He really began to be concerned when exploring the outer buildings. If Geraldo had skipped out... then something was wrong.  
  
--  
  
Frank had questioned every one of the house staff he came across as to the whereabouts of Senoras Broussard and Harris. Only one seemed to know where they were.  
  
"You're sure?"  
  
"Yes. They went horse riding with the Senora Montcalvez."  
  
"And when will they be back?"  
  
"Don't know. They didn't say."  
  
Frank left the man, frustrated. He hadn't been able to find Jake either. This wasn't like any of them to just disappear like that.  
  
With a frown of frustration, he headed out towards the stables to see if he could find either Alex, Litha or Senora Montcalvez.  
  
--  
  
Alex and Litha were in the stables with Senora Montcalvez when she was called away. That left the two women alone to talk. However, the light chitchat was interrupted by a messenger with a request for Alex to come immediately.  
  
"Go on hon. I'll brush down the horses and meet you for lunch." Seska smiled and watched Alex go.  
  
--  
  
Frank was stopped by a messenger saying that Senora Broussard was waiting for him by the pool house.  
  
"Finally. Well then, take me to her."  
  
**** 


	17. Discovery

It was an hour later that Litha finished brushing down the horses and gotten them put back in their stalls with the help of the stableboy. She needed a shower and a change of clothes...  
  
The house was quiet as she wandered the halls towards her room. Normally that would have tripped some alarms in her mind, but she was in her own little 'Litha World' as she walked along. Even when she opened her bedroom door and walked past a woman sitting in the chair near the window she didn't notice.  
  
She watched her walk in, oblivious to the world. That wasn't like her at all. She watched her strip out of the dusty pair of pants and shirt she was wearing and then step into the bathroom for a shower.  
  
She looked at her watch. Just wait for her to finish her shower and then take her to the others...  
  
--  
  
Half a world away back in Birmingham Hills, Michigan, the Birmingham Police were responding to the frantic 911 call from a neighbor who was out jogging and spotted the dead men in the car in front of Elizabeth Sinclair's home. After the Medical Examiner had arrive on the scene, another body was discovered in the backyard and one one more in the living room. The owner of the house was nowhere to be seen. To make matters worse, the neighbor had said that Mrs. Sinclair had been baby sitting her 9 month old granddaughter.  
  
The detectives were shaking their heads in shock. This was a professional hit, whoever did it. Clean and unannounced. The men's guns were still in their holsters and hands nowhere near drawing. What further unnerved them was the discovery that all four were Federal Agents.  
  
Adam Wallace's heart crept up into his throat the closer he got. There were way too many police cars in this street for him to like it. Monica wasn't thrilled either when she saw a coroner's van and people with "M.E." on the back of their jackets. What scared them even more was that everything was centering around the little two story gingerbread house with the proverbial white picket fence.  
  
"Holy Mother Of God." Adam Wallace choked as he got out of the car. A Crime Scene Investigator tried to stop them all as they approached, but a quick flash of the badge allowed them past the yellow tape and up to the house. Four black plastic body bags were on the lawn and occupied. Wallace knelt down and unzipped each one in turn as the lead detective gave him a brief run down of the situation. He was on the verge of tears. These were his four best men... and Elizabeth was gone - along with Angelina.  
  
Through everything so far, Monica had remained strangely silent. She's wandered the house while Wallace was talking to the detective. She emerged to hear Cody' question.  
  
"Mrs. Sinclair is gone?" Cody was beginning to realize the direness of the situation. There were four dead Federal Agents in a professional hit and the person they were there to bring back to the nest was gone.   
  
"Not just Mrs. Sinclair. There is a crib in one of the rooms. Is there something else we need to know, Adam?"  
  
"Yes. Mrs. Sinclair's granddaughter was here with her."  
  
"And she's gone too..."  
  
Cody looked between Wallace and Monica. "So now what do we do?" The subject of the granddaughter seemed to be lost on him for the moment.  
  
"We pray, Cody." It was the first time Adam Wallace had used his name directly. "We pray that both of them are alright... and we pray that Frank and his team are alive still."  
  
--  
  
Litha emerged from the shower with a towel wrapped around her hair and a robe around her body. It was strange that no one had knocked on her door, that Frank hadn't left her a note or even let himself in to scare the bejeezus out of her like he did last night. It was just too quiet in the house. She quickly dressed in a pair of black jeans and a tshirt. Maybe she could find Sra. Montcalvez and the two of them could search for the others.  
  
She had just put on her hiking boots and stood up from the bed when she saw the person sitting across the room from her. When the hell had they come in and how long had they been sitting there? The sunlight filtering in from the window made it difficult to see who it was... Until she spoke.  
  
"Ahh Senora Broussard... or should I say, Agent Sinclair? We meet again. How cliche that just sounded. Surprised to see me?"  
  
"Senora Montcalvez." This was going to be interesting. "What are you doing in my room?"  
  
"Trying to remain calm. Which is not going to be easy because I now have a Federal Agent trying to arrest my husband."  
  
Litha's eyes flicked around the room, then she made a tentative step backwards. Her holstered guns were on the table. The click coming from Senora Montacalvez drew Litha's attention back.  
  
"Nice try, Agent Sinclair. But don't make one move. After betraying my confidence, trust and hospitality, I'm not entirely pleased with you. Let's go."  
  
**** 


	18. Coming Together

"Jake... someone's coming..." Alex's voice was a whisper. How the hell had they wound up in this mess? One minute she was on her way to meet Jake and then she woke up in here with Jake cuffed to a pipe next to her.  
  
Jake looked up from where he was trying to pick the cuff locks. The door opened and two men armed with m-16s appeared in the doorway. "Senor Montcalvez wants you both now." One unlocked the cuffs of both and then they were led out of the pumphouse and into the main house. Everything was eerily silent, not even the house staff was present as they were led to a large room. Inside was Frank and Reymundo Montcalvez.  
  
Both Alex and Jake were shoved down into chairs and held at rifle point. Frank looked alright, didn't look like he'd been beaten or anything else.  
  
So what was going on?  
  
--  
  
Alessandra Montcalvez was pushing Litha down the hallway at gunpoint, heading towards the same room that Alex, Jake, Frank and Reymundo were in.  
  
"I am truly surprised, Agent Sinclair. That you made such an oversight on your part. You made an enemy out of me, you know that?"  
  
"Oh suck it Alessandra. You're making it worse on yourself and your husband by doing this. Look, we're not here after you. Just give me the gun and this will be easy... And just how did you know I wasn't Seska Broussard?"  
  
"So many questions. Makes you look foolish to not know, Sinclair. But if you must know I-" she abruptly fell silent.   
  
The slight scuffing noise behind her made Litha turned around to see what'd happened. There standing over Alessandra's fallen body was the agent from the plane who'd flown down with her and Frank.  
  
"Oh bejeezus Darrin! You have no idea how glad I am to see you. What's going on?"  
  
Darrin tossed her the silenced pistol as he dragged the woman's body into an empty room. "They all know. Geraldo, Reymundo, his wife. Reymundo has everyone else in a private room under armed guard. This morning while you and Alex were out with the Senora here, he and Geraldo were making the preparations. The housestaff is actually private guards. First Jake, then Alex after she was summoned away from you under the pretense of meeting Jake, then Frank under the pretense of meeting you. Wallace did tell you that you weren't supposed to leave Brazil, right?"  
  
"Yeah, he said something like that. Told me to watch my back. How the fuck did Reymundo get out of prison so soon and how did he get down here?"  
  
"While you were in Los Angeles - here..." He took the gun back and motioned her out of the room and down the hallway. "He was set free. Litha, he had help from higher up. It's worse than we thought. But, that's for later. I managed to call Wallace last night while everyone was at dinner. He said he was on his way to Birmingham Hills to bring your mother and Lina back to safety, just in case things didn't go as planned down here. Now, in order to get everyone out, we've got to get you into the room with Geraldo and make him believe that you're a prisoner."  
  
"Darrin... stop. Did you bring your bag with you?"  
  
"yeah, why?"  
  
"Go get it. If all the servants around here are armed guards, we're going to have to recreate the OK Corral in Sao Paolo."  
  
**** 


	19. Dead Bang

She hated this. She'd allowed herself to be marched at gunpoint through the house. Apparently Darrin knew where this private room was.  
  
"Knock on the door please Sinclair." She did and waited.   
  
On the other side, Reymundo's voice called out "WHO IS IT?"  
  
"It's me." Darrin replied. "I've got Sinclair for you."  
  
After a moment, the door opened up. Inside were Jake, Alex and Frank, all held at gunpoint, all strapped to chairs. And all of them looked shocked as hell to see Litha held at gunpoint herself. She was in different clothing than Alex remembered seeing her in this morning. Gone were the khaki pants and white t-shirt. In place were the black jeans, black tshirt, black hiking boots, contacts removed... hair tied back in a ponytail... Alex was getting very suspicious of the situation. She looked to Frank and then Jake to see if they were catching onto the differences.  
  
"You prick." Frank growled. "Litha and I both trusted you!"  
  
"Yeah, well, things aren't always what they turn out to be. Shut up Donovan and go with the flow." He jerked Litha through the door and kept her back to his chest. Behind her back where no one could see, he had one of her Desert Eagles tucked into the waistband of her jeans. The other was tucked under his shirt.  
  
Litha looked at Alex for a moment, trying to tell her with her eyes that things were going to be alright. She then looked back at Jake. "I'm sorry guys. I never thought it'd turn out like this."  
  
"Such sentimentality Sinclair. It's unbecoming a Special Operations Agent." Reymundo chuckled and moved around to right in front of her. "Did you really think I didn't know who you were when you arrived? I arrived the day before, and told both Geraldo and his wife all about you and your operation with Callahan. You deceitful little bitch, my brother trusted you. And what did you do... you betrayed that trust by coming down here to send him to prison. Tch, shame on you. I really should kill you now."  
  
It was all Frank could do to keep from lunging to his feet and going after the man. However, the guard behind Alex shoved him back down in the chair.  
  
"Cheer up Donovan. I won't kill her. That is what both you and your other two agents are here for. This is not really about you as much as it is about Agent Sinclair." He stepped back from Litha and walked around behind Frank. Leaning down he whispered, "I don't make the plans, I just play them out. Take comfort in the fact that someone else higher up has it in for her." He patted Frank's shoulder and walked towards Litha.  
  
Frank remained still and thought about it. Who else besides Montcalvez had it in for Litha? Not Wallace or Dodge... Boone didn't like her sure, but would he stoop that low? There was of course Callahan who would want revenge - but he was in prison, wasn't he? So who would be pulling the strings of this marionette game? And just where was Geraldo Montcalvez?  
  
"Ahhhh Senora Sinclair. You get to have a front row seat."  
  
"For what Reymundo?" She flicked a look at Frank.   
  
"The show, of course. You see, I'm not the one who's going to enjoy this... you are. You get to pick which dies first. Oh, of course it'll be after they've been subjected to some humiliation. I've got it on good word that you're not the kind to crack at being tortured yourself, but will suffer when someone you care for is. So who is it this time, Senora? Your fellow agent?" The man behind Alex grabbed her by the hair and yanked her head back. "Or her partner?" Jake's head was yanked back by another man. "Or your current lover, Senor Donovan?" Frank was jabbed in the shoulder by Reymundo.  
  
Litha looked up, then at all three slowly. She masked her face so as not to reveal any emotion at all. If this was going to work, it would have to take split second timing on both her and Darrin's parts. Amazingly, all three of them didn't look afraid. This was part of the job and if they died, then hell was going to come on swift wings from the States. You don't kill four of the top Justice Department Agents and not get repaid in tandem. What worried them is what Litha would say.  
  
They couldn't see behind Litha to her grip on the Desert Eagle pistol, or that Darrin had managed to slip her the second pistol. What they could see is the slight narrowing of her eyes as she fixed her gaze on Reymundo.  
  
"Why don't you go fuck yourself."  
  
He smiled. Oh this was going to suck for him.  
  
"Well, Senora Sinclair? Who's the lucky agent?"  
  
"Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe... Oh go ahead, kill Alex. She and I have a rather heated past." Her voice was deadpan. Still, none of them could see that Darrin was passing the second pistol to Litha behind her back. She kept her face stone plain as she curled her fingers around the grips comfortingly. This was going to work, she just had to keep telling herself that.  
  
Frank looked at Litha with shock. She didn't just say what he thought she did, did she? Litha held his eyes for a moment, then slowly closed them and turned her head back towards Reymundo.  
  
Alex's eyes went wide as Reymundo released Frank and she felt a gun muzzle pressed to the back of her head. The little bitch went and did it!   
  
Jake started to struggle, but the man pulled him back.  
  
"You sure Sinclair? I could save her death for later..."  
  
"No, I'm quite sure" she said in a matter of fact tone. Her eyes opened calmly. Jake could see something behind the green orbs...  
  
"Alex goes first." And with that, she snapped both of her arms out from behind her. She had both Desert Eagle pistols in hand. With one, she shot Reymundo between the eyes before he could pull the trigger on Alex. Darrin whipped his gun off of Litha's back and shot the man behind Jake, which allowed Litha the opportunity to switch targets and shoot the other guard. The whole thing took less than 5 seconds and left three dead, three shocked, and Litha with a grim look on her face as Darrin put his own gun back in it's holster.  
  
**** 


	20. Run And Shoot

THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS!!! I FINALLY GOT MOST OF IT DONE AND DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG IT'S LONGER THAN I HAD PLANNED ON IT BEING. JUST HANG IN THERE WITH ME AND I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY IT AS MUCH AS I'VE ENJOYED TORTURING.. ERRRRRR PUTTING LITHA AND FRANK THROUGH THE MOVES... ~CHEESEY GRIN~  
  
--  
  
  
Alex was kicking and trying to roll over. When Litha shot Reymundo, he made a grab for Alex's hair and toppled her chair over on top of him. Darrin pulled out a knife and lickety-split slit the ropes tying them all to their chairs. After switching her guns from one hand to the other, Litha reached down and offered her free hand to Alex. She looked up for a moment before taking it and standing up.  
  
"You know Alex," Litha purred with a hint of a giggle... "I'm getting tired of saving your life." She winked as she gripped both guns again in each hand and turned to Frank.  
  
Frank just looked at her. In the slight struggle, his shirt had been pulled away from his neck and everyone there could see the few hickeys she'd left on his neck and chest, as well as the two or three bite marks peeking out. Alex looked about on the verge of killing someone and Jake was gathering up the rest of the guns. Litha still had her guns in each hand as she looked at Frank. Without warning, she threw her arms around Frank's neck and stretched up on tiptoe to kiss him full on the mouth.  
  
Alex and Jake automatically ducked as both pistols went slinging around Donovan's neck, then looked on in stunned silence while Darrin just smiled. Frank's initial reaction was stunned shock too, but he recovered and slid his arms around her chest, crushing her to him as he returned the kiss desperately and fiercely.  
  
It wasn't until Jake cleared his throat that they broke apart. They weren't sure what had just happened, but it felt good whatever it was. "Glad to see the two of you finally making up... or out... but I would suggest we get the hell out of here."   
  
"Amen Jake. Everyone ready to get the flock out of Dodge?"  
  
Alex took the offered gun, then turned to follow Litha's friend out.   
  
"We'll have to get to the plane. The strip is under Geraldo's guards as a private landing field. The pilots are still there and the planes are ready to go. Problem is this, we're in a house full of private guards that work for Geraldo. He's still no where to be seen and by now little wifey-poo is waking her ass up. We're gonna have to run and shoot."   
  
No sooner had they stuck their heads out of the door, gunfire shoved them back in. Jake had stuck his head out to see if the coast was clear. He came tripping back and into Alex's lap.  
  
"Shhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit we're pinned in." Jake scrambled up and brushed himself off. Poor Alex was looking like she needed to sleep for the next year.  
  
"Easy Jake." Frank put a hand on his shoulder. Trips internationally hadn't been pleasant for Jake. First Columbia, now this. Each trip he took wound up in a shoot-out.  
  
Litha frowned. She knew that they were going to have to shoot their way out of the house, but this seemed odd. They were waiting for them... which meant that someone had to have orchestrated the little get-together in the room earlier...  
  
"Where was Geraldo this morning?"  
  
No one seemed to have the answer to that. Which prompted Litha to frown even harder. Geraldo had to be out there. If he and Reymundo worked this out, then they set up the entire morning... It all fit so nicely. Alessandra takes Alex and Litha out riding and plays dumb while Geraldo puts the plan into motion. Jake is the first one taken, followed soon by Frank, then Alex. Alessandra brings Litha into the room and then everything dawns on the 'unsuspecting' Federal Agents right before a bullet is put into their heads.  
  
Frank could see the wheels turning in her head. Darrin was watching her also, as if waiting on a cue or an order...  
  
Litha leaned back against the wall and lightly banged the back of her head in thought. This was going to get nasty... "let the world be the world..." the words came out as a whisper as she checked the first gun, then the second. "let the dream unfurl, let it run its own game"   
  
Darrin's eyes narrowed slightly. She was certifiably insane. He dropped his bag to the ground and ripped it open. "Dammit Litha, I didn't bring a vest for you and everyone else!"  
  
" 'let it dance with itself...' It's alright Darrin. Just keep it real." She winked at Frank as Darrin pulled out a pair of little white cubes.  
  
"SHIT!" was all Alex gritted out as Darrin started molding the first cube of putty like substance to the center hinge of the door. Litha herded Jake and Alex against the wall of the door. Darrin molded the second cube to the door handle as she did. The blast would spray backwards and if they were out of the line of the blast then they had a chance. Frank was goin to shake that woman out of her fillings. Darrin finished his task and joined the group.  
  
"I didn't put it here, gonna let it ride.." Litha pushed Frank between herself and the wall as she and Darrin both leveled their guns at the door. "gotta master crazy on the other side..." They both squeezed the triggers at the same time, Darrin putting himself between Litha and the C-4 explosive.  
  
A deafening explosion ripped the door off it's hinges. The door itself blew out and took out the two men in front of it. The silence on the other side of the door spurred Darrin and Litha into action.  
  
"MOVE MOVE MOVE!!!" Darrin was first out, followed by Jake, then Alex. Frank pushed Litha out of the door in front of him. Just as soon as the men outside recovered their wits, they began firing at the moving targets. Everyone took cover behind the furniture, guns held at the ready.  
  
"Great. We go from the room to the couch in 3 seconds. Are we fast or what? Now how the hell do we get out of here Litha?" Alex was fuming even as Jake was trying to squeeze off a few shots.  
  
Litha wasn't happy either. This wasn't the sort of situation she liked to deal with. "You know Alex, mouth off to me one more time and I swear to god I'll knock you on your ass. You think I WANT to be in this mess? I'm trying the best I can to get everyone out and in one piece, so kindly do me a favor and shut the hell up!"  
  
Alex's eyes got wide and Frank's hand grabbed Litha, dragging her over. "Not that I'm trying to tell you how to run an ops, Lillith, but don't talk to one of my agents like that again."  
  
Darrin turned and aimed his pistol at Frank. "Let her go Donovan. You don't have the first clue here."  
  
This time it was Litha who pushed back. "Darrin! Enough! Jesus this is why I refuse to run Black Ops missions." She sighed and thought about it.  
  
Frank and Jake looked at each other. Black Ops? Since when was Litha in Black?  
  
"Alright, Darrin, cover the left. Jake... JAKE pay attention, cover the right. Alex you get to cover behind us. Frank, on the count of three we see if we can get as many as possible."  
  
On the count of three, all five of them popped up and took fire. Immediately four of the guards dropped, followed soon after by another three. When the gunfire ceased for the moment, Litha pushed Alex and Jake off towards the hallway leading out to the garage.   
  
"Jake, get the limo ready." He nodded and took off running. "Darrin, cover us until we can get to a safe spot." When Darrin popped up again, she pushed Frank off of the floor, following behind him as cover. They both hit the wall and slid back down to the floor.  
  
"Since when do you run in Black?" he hissed as a gunshot hit the plaster over his head.  
  
Litha ejected both clips from her Eagles and reloaded them. "Since I left you and had a baby. I'll answer any and all questions once we get back onto the plane and safely in the sky."  
  
**** 


	21. Out Of The Frying Pan

Darrin had rejoined them after they gave him enough cover to run. Being the only one with a kevlar vest on, he got the rougher tasks of covering them. When Darrin skidded into an alcove closest to them, Geraldo decided to show his face.  
  
"Senora Sinclair!"  
  
"Well well. Hello Geraldo. Nice of you to show yourself finally."  
  
"Got you in a bit of squeeze, don't we, Senora Sinclair?"  
  
"No more than I'm used to. Why don't you save me the trouble of killing you and just surrender yourself."  
  
"You know, you really are funny sometimes. Why don't you lay down YOUR guns and surrender?"  
  
Litha sighed. When in the scheme of her life did she actively choose to put herself into situations like this? Was it a goal as a child? "Darrin, on three... Frank, we make for the door." But it wasn't an active choice. It was just something that was... like the moon rose in the west and the sun set in the east, it just was. And she was one of the best in Hostage Recovery. Wasn't this just another form of that?  
  
"One..." Darrin cocked his gun, Frank edged closer to them both.  
  
"Two..." She peeked out around the corner. It was all silent save for the few clicks of checks on the weapons held on them...  
  
"all we need is to come into the sun... we've been out in the dark for so long" her voice was soft, more to herself as a measure of centering her mind... "all I need, all we need, all I need, all we need... THREE!"  
  
At the signal, Darrin pushed out from the wall and took as many shots as he could. Litha shoved Frank in front of her towards the door. She was close behind him, guns firing in rapid enough succession that it looked like fire shooting from the muzzles. Through the window he could see Alex and Jake waiting on them.   
  
"GO FRANK!! Get into the limo!" Litha shoved him towards the door harder as she ducked behind a pillar. Three or four shots hit the pillar as she did.  
  
"SENORA SINCLAIR!! Come out, come out, I have your friend..."  
  
Frank and Litha both peeked to see Geraldo holding Darrin at gunpoint. 'SHIT' she thought. She rolled back behind the pillar and looked at Frank. "GO" she mouthed to him and nodded towards the door. He shook his head no and stayed put. "What promise do I have from you that you won't kill him?"  
  
"Hmmm let me think. You're a liar and a spy and you want assurances from me?"  
  
"Good point." There had to be an ace card somewhere. A few feet to her side was a door opening. Maybe...   
  
She signalled to Frank to give her some cover... Counting off with her fingers, one... two... three... Frank popped up and laid down a few shots, long enough to surprise Geraldo and give LItha enough time to dive into the opening. She skidded and rolled over, coming face to face with Alessandra Montcalvez - gun in hand and aimed at her.  
  
"Great."  
  
**** 


	22. Don't Bluff A Recovery Agent

Alessandra glared at Litha down the barrel of her gun. She stepped back and motioned for the other woman to get up. Slowly Litha did, her own two guns held in her hands.  
  
"What are you going to do Alessandra? Shoot me?" She carefully put her own two guns back into their holsters. "You're not a killer Alessandra, are you?" She smiled, keeping her voice calm and soothing as she took one step closer.  
  
Alessandra backed up. She wasn't a killer really but this woman and her friends had come into her home and were trying to take her husband away... she had to stop them.  
  
"Alessandra, give me the gun."  
  
There was the sounds of more shots coming from the main room behind them. Alessandra's eyes looked up towards the sounds. That was more than enough time for Litha's hand to snap up and knock the other woman's gun up over her head. A shot rang out that landed in the ceiling, but Litha twisted around with the woman's wrist in her hand. She made quick work of removing the gun from the woman and turning it on her.  
  
"Not smart chica. Let me give you a lesson in guns - when you've got someone at gunpoint, don't EVER take your eyes off of them. Now, I'm not in a good mood anymore. On your feet."  
  
--  
  
Donovan's head snapped towards where the gunshot rang out. That wasn't Litha's gun and there were no more sounds coming from the room.  
  
"Geraldo! I have something of yours!" Litha stepped into the doorway with Alessandra in front of her. The older woman was caught by the neck, Litha's arm wrapped tightly around it and a foreign gun held close to her head.  
  
Geraldo's eyes went wide and he refirmed his aim on Darrin's head. "She dies Sinclair and his blood is on your hands."  
  
"You really think I care about that? What is she worth to you Geraldo? To keep her alive and safe? Is she worth your surrender, giving up my friend?" She pressed the gun to Alessandra's head. Alessandra Montcalvez started babbling in portuguese at her husband, begging it sounded like.  
  
"I'm past caring right now what happens to her. Either you let him go or I swear to god I'll kill her. LOOK AT ME GERALDO, you know I will. I killed your brother without a thought and I'll do it to her too."  
  
This was a side of Litha that Frank hadn't seen before. Ruthless, cold-blooded. He wasn't sure if he liked it or not. Slowly he stood up and moved over to Litha's side.  
  
"Frank, get out of here. Go on and get into the limo with Jake and Alex. We'll be right behind you."  
  
He looked at her skeptically. When she turned her head and gave him a 'go or I'll shoot you' look, he backed up and made for the door.  
  
"What's it going to be Montcalvez?"  
  
Montcalvez looked at his men. He couldn't risk the life of the woman he loved. He quickly told them to throw their weapons out where she could see them. They all did so and stood up, hands in the air.   
  
"Good boys. Now let Darrin go."  
  
Montcalvez glared at her. Litha responded by pushing Alessandra to arm's length and putting the gun to the back of her head with a click of the hammer. Geraldo's hand fell back from Darrin's head and he let him go. Darrin hurried out past Litha towards the car.  
  
Litha backed up slowly, her left hand pulling out her personal weapon as she did. Both guns were trained on Montcalvez and his wife. Out of the corner of her eye she could see one of the hired guards reaching for a dropped pistol on the floor.  
  
"Tch. no no m'boy." Litha squeezed off a shot at the man as her back hit the door. Montcalvez raised his gun to her at the same time Alessandra tried to run towards him. All Litha heard as she kicked the door closed was Geraldo Montcalvez's screams. He'd killed his own wife by accident.  
  
**** 


	23. Questions Answered

The plane was started and waiting on the arrival of the limo and it's occupants. Both pairs of pilots had boarded the second plane according to instructions. Strangely, the airstrip was left unguarded. Litha and Darrin were the first out of the limo and kept a watch as Frank, Alex and Jake boarded. Then they too backed up quickly and got on the plane.  
  
Within minutes they were tearing down the runway and lifting off. Litha slumped into her chair with a soft sigh. Darrin was putting his gear away. Other than the engines, there was dead silence between the four of them.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me."  
  
"Tell you what, Frank? That I ran with Black Ops? Would it have made you feel better about me? Frank Donovan, from time to time I run Black Ops training sessions. Adam felt it would be good training for me and that is that." She was tired and anxious to get home. That showed in her voice. Since the whole shoot out began she'd been irritable and nasty to everyone.  
  
Frank was silent as he stared at her. She could feel his eyes boring into her. He didn't deserve that from her and she knew it. With a sigh, she stood up and hosltered her guns, then offered her hand to Frank.  
  
He looked at it for a moment, then took it and stood up. She led him to the back of the plane and kicked Darrin out, closing the curtain behind her. "I promised you answers to any and all questions you wanted."  
  
"Yes you did. But I want an apology first. You've been nothing but evil since this started."  
  
"I know. And I'm sorry." She sat down in a seat and continued to talk. "This IS the reason I don't run in Black. Number one, I have a child. Number two, I'm not mentally cut out for the job. I can't mentally handle the rigors of what the Black Ops personnel go through on a day to day basis. Yes, I run in some of the training sessions out at the Academy. Adam thought it'd be good for me to do that. But I've discovered something about myself. I LIKE being a mother. I like being able to go home at the end of the day and kiss my Lina good night."  
  
Frank knelt down as she was speaking. He put his hands on her knees and listened. When she mentioned 'Lina' his forehead wrinkled. "Lina?"  
  
"Angelina. I call her Lina. And another thing, I like teaching the students at the Academy." She smiled wryly and looked out of the window for a moment at the clouds passing by. "I never wanted to come on this mission Frank. Not because of you or Alex or Montcalvez. But because I liked what I was doing and I was safe there. Frank," she put her hands on his and looked down at him.  
  
Her eyes were full of tears as he looked up at her. "What Lovely?"  
  
She smiled. 'Lovely' was his pet name for her. He hadn't called her 'Lovely' since a month before she left. "I should have told you before. You should have been there when she was born, when she came home from the hospital and when she got her first tooth. It wasn't fair or right of me to deny you the joys that I've had in being a mother."  
  
--  
  
Jake and Alex were on the other side of the curtain listening. 'Mother' Alex mouthed to Jake. He blinked in confusion back. Nothing had been said before about Litha having children. When it was mentioned that Frank should have been there, BOTH of their eyebrows shot clear up to their hairilnes. Darrin chuckled and motioned them closer to where he was.  
  
"Yes, Litha is a mother. She has a 9 month old baby girl, and Frank is the father. He just found out himself a few days ago while they were on the way down to Sao Paolo. Her name is Angelina Sinclair-Donovan and is right now with her grandmother in Michigan while Litha is on this mission."  
  
"Frank's got a kid?"  
  
"Yes Jake, Frank has a little girl. And unless something went horribly wrong, she's now at the nest with Cody and Monica per Frank's instructions. You'll get to meet her when we arrive."  
  
Both of them sat back. This was turning out to be an interesting day...  
  
--  
  
Frank smiled up at Litha, then raised up and kissed her forehead. "I can't tell you that I forgive you for that. Because I can't. I'm upset that you didn't tell me or want me to be a part of it all. But I know you had your reasons, just like you had reasons for not telling me about the second IAD investigation. Litha, I want to be a part of both of your lives from here out - understand me?"  
  
Litha nodded silently that she did. Frank sat down on the seat next to her, wrapping his arms around her. He had a little girl... "What does she look like?"  
  
"Like you, only more girly. She's got your mouth and your stare. She's your daughter over and over, right down to that look you get when you're trying to figure something out. She's a thinker, our Angelina. Just like you, she puckers up her mouth when she's taking something apart with her eyes. Just last week, before I left, she was trying to figure out how to work a musical book. Reminded me of you on a negotiation..."  
  
"Your hair and eyes?"  
  
"Mmm hmm. Grass green eyes and pitch black hair. She's got your long fingers though, and I think she'll wind up being tall. Well, taller than me at least." Litha giggled for a moment, snuggling up against his chest. For some reason she was feeling sleepy.  
  
"What's the giggle for Lovely?"  
  
"She's got my lungs for screaming."  
  
--  
  
Darrin chuckled at Alex and Jake. They'd resumed their post at the curtain, eavesdropping on Frank and Litha. As Litha described the little girl, they both grinned. This was definitely going to be interesting. A baby that looked like a mishmash of Litha and Frank with Frank's intent stare and Litha's temper. That has got to be one fiesty little kid! They both tried to picture what this kid looked like as Darrin took care of business.  
  
Next to Darrin sat the satellite phone. As per orders, he picked up the receiver and dialed Adam Wallace to let him know that they all were on the way back. After a moment of his silence while he listened, Jake and Alex were staring at him. Darrin turned his head slowly and looked past them to the curtain... "Sweet Jesus."  
  
**** 


	24. Shell Shock

"Darrin?" Alex stood up and moved towards him.  
  
"Get Frank and Litha... NOW!"  
  
Jake scrambled through the curtain. Frank and Litha were just about to doze off when he did. As a result, Frank jumped up, dumping Litha onto the floor before she herself jumped up. "WHAT?" they both said in unison.  
  
Beyond the curtain Darrin was motioning them forward. After they got close enough, he flicked a switch and put the phone on speaker.  
  
"Adam, you there?"  
  
"Yeah Darrin. I take it I'm on speaker now. There is no easy way to say this. Frank, have the pilots change course from Chicago to Detroit."  
  
Litha paled. Frank looked at the phone. "Why?"  
  
There was silence for a moment. Litha was beginning to feel that coil of utter dread in her throat. "Adam?"  
  
"Litha, there's been a problem."  
  
"NO Adam! Dammit, NO!!"  
  
"Litha, Frank, last night Elizabeth Sinclair's home was broken into. Despite having four men there, both Elizabeth and Angelina were kidnapped. All four of my men were killed. Whoever did this was a professional. The hits were clean, with a silencer and from some distance away except for the man in the front room. None of them stood a chance, they didn't even get the chance to draw their weapons before they were hit. I'm sorry."  
  
All four of them were staring in shocked silence. Darrin looked away out of the window while Jake looked up at his boss. The look of pain in his eyes was similar to the look he wore for months after Litha left him. Alex was the only one who noticed Litha.  
  
Litha had backed up a few steps and was shaking her head no. This couldn't be happening. Adam told her that he'd protect her mother and daughter. "you promised." was all she could whisper. Alex reached out to her, but she pulled back. "no... Lina... ADAM YOU PROMISED!!"  
  
Frank looked back just as Alex grabbed hold of Litha and wrapped the woman up in her arms. She fought it for a minute or two but finally just gave in and sobbed on Alex's shoulder. Alex looked back at Frank and moved Litha into the back of the plane. Frank turned down the volume on the speaker so it wouldn't disturb Litha anymore than she already was. "Alright Adam. Give me details."  
  
"We think it's two of Boone's cronies. Frank, last hit I saw like this got me out of field work all-together."  
  
"Two, Adam?" Jake was making notes while Darrin peeked back to see how Litha was doing.  
  
"Yeah, it fits the concept. One to deal with the mother, one to deal with the baby. Bullets were tested and the CSI guys came up with only two guns. So that leaves me with two gunmen and more henchmen..."  
  
"Or just two men period." Jake finished before Frank could.  
  
"Right Jake. Now, these two we think are responsible left D.C. a few days ago, roughly the time that Litha wound up on your team Frank. If this is the case and these two are the ones, then that implicates Boone in a hell of a lot more than what we've got so far."  
  
A crash from the back of the plane interrupted Wallace. Jake and Frank looked back at Darrin who just shook his head and disappeared behind the curtain. "Litha, calm down..."  
  
"Adam, you're in Detroit, correct?"  
  
"Yeah, still here with Monica and Cody. We're running everything to ground that we come across. We'll be ready for you and Litha when you land. Take care of her Frank. I think she's about to snap and if I know our girl -"  
  
"Yeah, I have a feeling that there will be blood on the moon. Thanks Adam." Frank disconnected the phone in time to hear a fist connecting with bone. He turned to see Darrin stumbling through the curtain holding his jaw.  
  
"Jake, tell the pilots to change course to Detroit instead of Chicago. I'll be in the back with Litha. If I'm not out in an hour... just wait longer."  
  
He stood and passed by Darrin. A quick check revealed that it wasn't broken, but he'd have a hard time eating anything for a while. Frank handed him a napkin with some ice in it and pushed through the curtain. In the back stood Litha behind Alex. Alex had her back to him as he walked in and Litha held what looked like a large box in her hand. She'd fallen completely apart, tears running down her face mixed with a sob here and there. Not even on the flight down when she locked herself in the bathroom for 30 minutes did she look this broken.  
  
"Careful Frank. She decked Darrin for trying to take the gun out of her hand. The gun is on the seat behind me. So far she hasn't tried to hurt me..."  
  
"Thanks Alex. Why don't you go see about Darrin. I'll handle Litha."  
  
"You sure?" She looked skeptical. Litha was just wavering in place, no longer sobbing, but she looked like she was far far away inside of her own mind.  
  
"Yes. Go on Alex. I'll be fine." He stepped forward past Alex towards Litha.  
  
Litha raised the box and stepped back. "No. get back Frank!"  
  
"Litha... Lovely... come on, put the box down. You're not helping me at all here." He reached out carefully towards her.  
  
She backed up until she hit the bulkhead of the plane. With nowhere else to go, she dropped the box and inched along the wall until she was in the furthest corner of the cabin from him. Curling up in a seat, she drew her knees up under her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs. "He has my baby..." she whispered. Her head was shaking like she was having a palsy attack. Her nerves and neurons were firing at 10 times the normal bodily rate. Her system was on an adrenaline overload. When she crashed, she'd crash through the floor and basement. Frank closed in on her, one hand held out in front of him until he touched her hair.   
  
She never moved, just kept twitching slightly, eyes glazed. "She's my baby too, Litha. I'll get her back... We'll get her back Litha."  
  
Litha's eyes moved to his face. She could see it in his eyes, in every inch of his expression. He wouldn't stop until Angelina was found and back where she belonged.  
  
**** 


	25. Deadly Silence

"Ladies and gentlemen, we'll be arriving into Detroit in about 15 mintues. Please fasten your safety belts and prepare for landing."  
  
Jake and Alex woke out of their light sleep. Damn time passes quickly when you sleep... Jake looked back to check on Darrin. Darrin wound up with a knot the size of Jake's fist on his jaw from the smack that Litha gave him. He shook his head, if that's what the result looks like, Jake hated to see Litha's hand.  
  
Alex stretched and went back to tell Frank that they were preparing to land. Instead, she smiled at what she saw. Frank was stretched out on the seat in the back, Litha curled up against his chest sleeping. He was rubbing her back and shoulders in soft circular motions, soothing to watch as well as soothing to feel.  
  
Frank caught Alex's smile and offered one back. "Yes, I know we're landing. I'll take care of Litha, go sit down Alex. It's going to be rough for the next couple of hours, possibly days."  
  
"How is she Frank? I mean really. I know she's shaken, I would be too if I had a kid that wound up nabbed... but..."  
  
"She's got a long road Alex. She's a tough cookie, no doubt about it. But all of this just hit her at one time. On the way down here Adam called, told her to watch her back and that the rumor was she was to die in Brazil. How do you think she took that? On top of that, he also told her that rumors were running that her mother was labeled as Broussard's mother and associates of Montcalvez's were targeting her if anything should happen to him while Seska was in Brazil. The child wasn't known about and would have wound up collateral damage, used as a bargaining chip if necessary. She spent 30 minutes in the lavatory, locked in and heaving up what she had for dinner three nights before. Threats against her life she can handle. Don't threaten her mother or her child. Now, go on. I'll wake her up and get ready to land."  
  
--  
  
Adam met them out on the tarmac. The sky was overcast as they all de-planed and got into the waiting Suburbans.  
  
"Frank, I got to tell you - this is unnerving. We've tracked these two men down and every time we move in to take them, they're gone. This is enough to make a saint swear."  
  
"Let me see if I can get anywhere with it." He picked up the radio to the second car. "Monica, tell me what you've got"  
  
"Yeah, two guys, professional. Both of them worked with Boone on some of his stickier assignments in the past. Frank, if they were freelancing on the open market our team would be given the file to bring them in"  
  
Frank sighed. So far Litha hadn't flinched, moved, or said one word. She watched the scenery zip by as they headed towards the hotel. Where was she? Frank was worried, she hadn't even been responsive when he woke her up. Sort of like she was on auto-pilot.  
  
"Go on Monica."  
  
"Anyways - we think we've gotten them tracked down to a place in Alexandria. We're monitoring them for now. Once we're sure that it's them, then they'll be detained until we get there. Frank, I called in Aaron Dodge. He's taking charge of surveillance on these guys."  
  
At the mention of Dodge's name, Litha blinked and half looked towards Frank's side of the SUV. But then as quickly as the response was there, it was gone and she was looking out of the window again.  
  
"Good work Monica. Keep me informed." He put the radio down and covered Litha's hand. She pulled her hand from under his and tucked it up under her other arm as she watched out the window.  
  
Adam looked back at Frank's face. The man was hurting for Litha and because of the current issue. "Give her time Frank. That's all I can say. Just hope that when Lina is back, she'll come out of this."  
  
"I know Adam. I know." He sat back and watched his side of the city go by in a blur.  
  
**** 


	26. Jake And Alex Get The Dirt

No sooner had they arrived at the hotel and gotten settled in than Dodge called from Virginia and told them that they had a 100% positive ID on the two men. That meant a quick trip back out to the plane and once again all of them - Frank, Alex, Jake, Monica, Cody, Litha, Darrin, Adam Wallace and his team - were flying their way towards Virginia.  
  
"Talk to me Litha, please!" Frank looked up into her eyes for some sign of life. He was on his knees in front of her with his hands on her knees. She was so distant, as if her mind were locked behind some wall that nothing got past. He was beginning to fear that she'd melted down completely.  
  
Jake and Alex were watching every now and then. "Man, I'm beginning to worry over her. She hasn't said one word since she found out what happened."  
  
"Tell me about it. I don't hate the woman enough to wish this kind of pain on her."  
  
"Tch you two. Kindly remember that she's here on the plane and despite what she shows outwardly, she can hear you." Adam Wallace sat down in the seat across a narrow aisle from them.  
  
"Chief Wallace?"  
  
"Yes Alex? Please call me Adam." He smiled and got more comfortable.  
  
Alex regarded him for a moment. He was a tall man, Frank's height easily with a head of steel grey hair and piercing blue eyes behind his glasses. An imposing man to say the least. "What is all this we've heard about regarding Chief Director Boone?"  
  
He snorted in disgust. "Oh that." Adam removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. They were all exhausted, but refused to show it until this was over and done. "He's got a personal vendetta against Litha."  
  
"What?! Why?" both Jake and Alex piped up in unison. From her seat behind them, Monica eavesdropped casually while Cody blatantly leaned over and listened.  
  
"Because she put him in the hospital for 6 weeks with 4 shattered vertebrae." He looked at Alex and Jake for a moment then continued. "He made the mistake of going in alone to talk to her. You see, it was Eric Boone who decided that it would be a better plan to have her go into deep cover to infiltrate Montcalvez's organization. I was standing outside with Aaron when I heard the first scream. Stupid fool told her that he'd already told everyone that she was killed in the accidental shooting. By the time we got in there and got her restrained, she'd smashed his vertebrae, ripped open her stitches and fractured her wrist."  
  
Cody was listening so intently that he fell out of his chair and landed in the aisle. Adam leaned over in his seat to look at Cody while Alex and Jake turned around. After shaking his head, he continued.  
  
"Roughly the same time that Litha came out of her assignment, Eric's back began to give him serious troubles. He finally went in for Fusion surgery. All four vertebrae were fused together. As a result, he's got limited mobility in bending over and turning side to side. You'd never know it to look at him, he's adapted well. But in his mind, Litha is responsible for it all. He can't get past that. What he doesn't realize is that we're on to him, and it's ultimately his blame for the way she was told. If he'd read the psych profile given to him, he'd have known to tell her with a gathering of people."  
  
"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn. So, in your opinion, what will she do when she finds out that Boone is ultimately behind it all?" Monica turned around in her seat.  
  
"Who says that he is Monica?" Adam's eyes peered at her intently.  
  
"It fits. He blames her for everything - Callahan's arrest and conviction, his physical injuries and limitations. He obviously has the power to make the deals and the drive to see her punished. You yourself said that the two men who took the baby and her grandmother were cronies of his and that implicates him. I'd say that alone in itself makes Boone the end target of this game."  
  
"And you'd be right. Litha is IAD, an Associate who's been working on this case since before she moved in with Frank. When she was debriefed in D.C. after the Montcalvez case, we convinced her that we needed her on this case. That's why she left him. He was asking a lot of questions on an ongoing case and she couldn't tell him anything. So to make things easier, at least at the time, she left. Wound up at the FBI Academy after I pushed her furlough through. That's where she's been until this last week."  
  
"And Frank didn't know any of this until she told him. Not even that he had a daughter?"  
  
"No, Monica. He didn't."  
  
For the second time Cody fell out of his seat and onto the aisle floor with a loud thud.  
  
"For the luvva pete, get up Cody. You'd think that you didn't know any of this yourself."  
  
"I didn't Monica." The light dawned on him and his eyes got real wide. "You mean that little baby we're looking for is Frank's?!"  
  
"Your mind is a steel trap, isn't it computer boy?" Adam just rolled his eyes in jest.  
  
**** 


	27. Interrogation

All seven of them stood in the hallway of the IAD Facility in Alexandria, Virginia looking into the two different holding cells at the two men. Alex and Jake kept watching Litha for some sign of recognition. If there was, it was so minute that it didn't even register. Wallace had said that she knew these two men.  
  
Footsteps echoing down the hall caused almost everyone but Litha to turn. A shorter man, wire thin with dark red hair and a jovial demeanor came down the hallway towards them with one other man.  
  
"Aaron." Frank put his hand out to shake the man's hand.   
  
"Frank. Good to see you again, even if under such circumstances." He shook the younger man's hand in an iron grip that time and age hadn't faded. In his other hand was a file jacket that he tucked under his arm while talking. "This is your team? Nice, nice... good to put a real face with the name instead of a file photo. I've heard good things coming from above about them." Aaron Dodge was the Chief Director of the Internal Affairs Department and knew everyone in the hallway inside and out. "How is she Frank?"  
  
"She's upright and breathing. Not much else." He turned to look at Litha who still was staring through the glass at one of the men, arms folded around her stomach. She hadn't changed clothing at all, still wearing the black jeans, t-shirt and boots she had on in Brazil. She was apparently oblivious to the fact that everything happened yesterday in Brazil.  
  
"This is William. He'll be helping me with the interview. This man here is Hendricks. We believe him to be the one who actually picked up Angelina."  
  
"Why do you say that Aaron?"  
  
Dodge turned and looked at Frank. "Because he's got kids of his own, and he's got a gentler nature than Burns over in the next cell. Burns is a meat pounder, someone who's there for a physical presence only. Shall we William?"  
  
He and William disappeared into the first man's cell. All of them watched as Aaron dropped the file jacket down and opened it up. Wallace flipped a switch and opened up the speaker so they could hear.  
  
"You do know why you're here, don't you Agent Hendricks?" The man didn't respond. "Funny thing is, you're in so much mud here that it's not funny. Open the file."   
  
The man looked at Dodge. So Dodge opened it for him. One or two of the spectators in the hallway could see Litha's file photo clipped to the top of the paperwork. The man's eyes looked at it, then flicked up to Dodge.  
  
"You do know I'm IAD, right? Chief Director Dodge, just in case you don't know who I am. I see you recognize Agent Sinclair's photo. You know why I'm here, asking you about something involving Litha?" The man's eyes flicked to the glass behind Dodge, then back to Dodge. He sat back, still silent as stone.  
  
Litha moved from the glass with Hendricks and Dodge to the other man, Burns. Everyone watched her as she did. Frank stepped closer to her but not close enough to make her draw away. Slowly he leaned towards the glass and watched her face. Her eyes were flicking back and forth from the man's face to his hands. He could see that her brain was working on some nagging little problem.  
  
All of a sudden she opened the door and stepped inside...  
  
**** 


	28. Avenging Angel

Litha was pissed. There was no delicate way to put it - plain and simple, Lillith Sinclair was killing mad. It was hell to keep up with her as she drove like a mad woman out towards the Academy in it's remote and highly secured location. She hadn't even taken time to call ahead and have him detained. Litha had blood on her shirt, jeans and boots, and her knuckles were bruised, red and raw from the fistfight she'd gotten into with Burns. With her bare hands she'd killed him, the Agent who'd man-handled her mother. Despite their arguments, you don't touch Litha's mother and not pay for it. Of course, she'd not killed him for that, no no. Special Agent Lillith Sinclair killed the man quite simply because he would not tell her where Angelina Sinclair-Donovan and her mother were being held at. All she'd gotten out of him before she snapped his neck like a twig was 'Boone'.  
  
Frank was officially scared. The plan was originally to get the two agents who kidnapped them to lead them to the location of the two hostages. But when the first one refused to talk, Litha moved to the second. Frank let her go with him and allowed her to smack him around quite a bit. She needed the venting of her frustration and temper or otherwise she'd blow a fuse and kill someone. It wasn't until Jake started into the room with a shocked look on his face that Frank realized she had already lost her fuse. She had the man down on the floor on his hands and knees. His nose was broken, his lips were busted, his face was black and blue and he looked like he got into a fight with a wall and the wall won. Frank grabbed Litha's shoulder right as he heard the crunch of his trachea being crushed in her grip.  
  
He'd seen her eyes when she crushed that agent's neck. She was way off the charts of predictability and that was something he'd only experienced once before in his life. Alex and Jake had tried to talk her down after she'd done it, but all she did was shove Jake against the wall, push Alex back with one hand and make for the Suburban out on the street. She'd shown incredible sclarity of thinking in stopping long enough to refill both clips on her guns just in case. Everyone knew that Boone was her end target and she'd go through hell and high water to get to him. After all, he knew where her daughter and mother were being held. If anything Frank wanted to get there to save Boone... and take his own shots at the man himself.   
  
Jake once again displayed that remarkable skill of stunt driving by swerving in and out of traffic lanes in his efforts to keep up with Litha. It wasn't easy, but it was in the same instant. All one had to do was follow the wake of wrecks and dodge the debris. After a few narrow misses, it became obvious that she was heading out to the Academy complex. Alex, while Jake was driving, was in constant contact with Monica and Cody as they and their support team went hunting for Elizabeth and Angelina Sinclair. As soon as they found the baby, they'd call.  
  
Litha didn't slow down one bit as she made the turn off and barreled down the dirt road. The Academy complex sat off the road quite a bit and was disguised by an old dirt road to throw off unwanted visitors. But after a few minutes of driving, the monolithic structure loomed up above the forest surrounding it. The main complex was surrounded by a modest fence and a guard house sat on the main drive allowing visitors in and out. Litha paid the guard's waving no heed, not even to blow the horn at him as she laid on the gas and gunned the Suburban up over 80 mph. The guard managed to duck out of the way as the front end of the Suburban smashed the gate apart in a shower of sparks. A hail of gunfire erupted as the guard composed himself enough to pull his weapon and open fire on her. However, Frank and his team had managed to catch up with her once off the main highways.   
  
Reining in the Suburban to a stop with the passenger side towards the oncoming gunfire, Litha calmly opened the door and stormed in through the front doors. The inside security guards recognized her instantly, but still attempted to stop her. She didn't look right. If Frank hadn't been a yard or two behind her waving off the guards, Litha would have been overpowered and possibly shot for roughing the security up or even wounding one. As it were, she stormed through the metal detectors, setting off all sorts of alarms and panicking a lot of people.  
  
She looked like a banshee. Her hair was tangled, there were streaks of sweat and blood on her face and neck. Litha's hands were reddened, turning ugly shades of black and purple in their bruising. Her clothing was a bloody mess and her face was set in a mask of pure determination. Litha breezed past the elevators and turned down another hallway at the far end of the building. Jake and Alex were right behind Frank, who was right behind her and flashing his own badge. She'd left hers clipped to the front pocket of her jeans, but didn't even bother to point it out. Several of the students had been in her lectures and started to speak to her as she walked past them. But one look at her frightened them off. Not once during the entire trip had she said one word to anyone.  
  
There at the end of the hallway was a set of double doors marked Lecture Hall 4WA1. Fourth Lecture Hall, A Wing, Level One. This was one of the larger lecture halls and it was typical of the cliches - auditorium seating that dipped down to a lectern or stage at the far end of the 'theater'. Litha didn't even stop as she strode towards those doors with a purpose. Instead she unholstered one pistol and thumbed the safety off, then the other. Both pistols in a firm but loose grip, she didn't even stop to open the doors. Instead she snarled and kicked the door open.  
  
The double doors flew open with an explosive crash as they flew back and banged against the walls. Several students in the rear rows jumped out of their seats, a few even screamed when they saw all 5'9" of pissed off Banshee named Lillith Morgana Sinclair walking through the doors, both Desert Eagle .45mm guns in hand. Frank remembered seeing her at the LAX airport three days ago - the avenging angel... and this time there was hell to pay.  
  
"SOMEONE CALL SECURITY!"  
  
Jake and Alex looked at each other as Litha started down the steps towards her target. At the lectern staring goggle-eyed was one Eric Boone. He'd taken over Litha's lectures while she was gone. People had begun standing, some exiting the classroom in a rush when they spotted the twin guns. By the time she reached the bottom step, she had both of her weapons hammer cocked and ready to fire.  
  
"Well, well, if it ain't Wyatt fucking Earp." he sneered at her.  
  
"SHUT. UP." Those two growled out words were the first words out of her mouth since she asked where her daughter was from Burns. She lifted the pistol in her right hand up to Boone's forehead.  
  
Someone else screamed in the lecture hall and Litha flicked a look at Frank.  
  
"EVERYONE OUT!! COME ON, LET'S GO!!" Frank, Alex and Jake proceeded to herd the remainder of the students out of the hall. As they did so, Litha kept her cold stare on Boone's face, pistol mere inches from his forehead between his eyes. Boone stared back, the cruel contempt creeping into his eyes as he looked at her.  
  
When the closing clicks of the lecture hall doors sounded, Litha knew they were alone. "Where are they you sonofabitch?"  
  
He just smiled. Litha cocked her head slightly. So it was going to be this way, hm? Well, two could play that game.  
  
"get out." was all she said.  
  
Frank started to move forward, but she flipped up her left hand and aimed the pistol at him without even looking. Frank knew she could hit him without taking too strong of an aim. Her peripheral vision/sight shooting was as good as her target and moving target shooting. He put his hands up and backed off, pulling Jake and Alex with him. They all closed the two sets of doors behind them, Jake and Alex at one set, Frank at the other. There was a crowd building outside in the hallway. Word had spread that a psycho or a terrorist had taken hostages in the lecture hall. Instructor Agents had come down ready to help out, but stopped when they saw the three of them.   
  
They did a double take when Wallace showed up and joined Frank by the door. No one was getting past them until Litha opened up the doors herself.  
  
After they'd left, Litha lowered her left hand and lowered the hammer on the pistol. "I won't ask you again Eric. WHERE is my daughter and mother?"  
  
"How was Sao Paolo Lillith? Meet any interesting people? I heard it got really bloody down there. Ain't that just like you to leave a blood trail behind you a mile wide. Just remember, their blood is on your hands." He sneered at her. This was going to be divine.  
  
Her answer was to bring the butt end of her left gun up and then down across his cheek ande the bridge of his nose in a flash of movement. Boone crumpled to the floor holding his face and swearing a blue streak.  
  
**** 


	29. Of Saints And Sinners

Frank looked at Wallace. She'd been alone in there for 20 minutes with Boone and they all could hear the crunching and thudding sounds of fists on bone, fists on soft body parts, body being thrown across the room... all hell was breaking loose.  
  
"Agent Donovan, how long are you going to let that continue? He'll kill her!" One of the students obviously didn't know Sinclair that well to think that a little weasel like Boone could ever out-match Litha. "It sounds like they're beating the shit out of each other! You've got to stop it!"  
  
"I don't hear anything, do you Adam?"  
  
"Not a bit Frank. I think the kids are in need of a hearing check." Just then the door behind them collided with a body, shaking it on the hinges and bowing the door slightly. Shortly after that there was the sound of a body rolling down the steps away from the doors. Adam and Frank looked at each other.  
  
"Should we go in and break it up, see if he's had enough?"  
  
Frank was about to answer when one of the cockier male students in the class piped up. "Yeah right. I got $50 that says it's Boone kicking the shit out of Sinclair. She's just a little bitty slip of a thing."  
  
The betting went off like wild after that. Frank looked at Adam with a cheshire grin, then over at Jake and Alex. Jake was looking as if to say that the outcome of this brawl would determine what the odds were in the Sinclair-Cross matchup. Frank chuckled. He knew about the whispers Cody and Jake had shared about what would happen if Litha and Alex got into a boxing ring together.  
  
--  
  
Monica and Cody followed the team into the townhouse. After Litha had beat the shit out of and killed Burns, Dodge let his partner Hendricks see the result. 'This is what will happen to you, Hendricks. Think about it, she killed him for touching her mother... what do you think Sinclair will do to you when she finds out you picked up her baby girl?' The man had started spilling his guts after that.  
  
This was where Agent Hendricks had told them Mrs. Sinclair and the baby were being kept at. There were two guards at the front door to the residence watching. The agent had told them that there were three more inside with the woman. Aaron Dodge had come down to join the team in the recovery. He felt responsible for them being in this position because he didn't get the chance to move them to a safe house before Litha went on the mission.  
  
"Agent Davis, you and your partner know how to use your weapons, right? If not, you two get to stay back in the back until we clear the house."  
  
"You think we made it this far without knowing how to fire a gun? Give us some credit, will you Director Dodge?"  
  
He'd only chuckled and moved them along as the lead agents moved across the lawn. It all happened quickly enough. The two agents in front were easily subdued and removed. A battering ram was employed to break down the front door. There were two agents in the front of the townhouse who were also quickly subdued. This left Monica to follow the sound of a baby's crying. Upstairs in a room towards the back of the residence was the room that Angelina was kept in. There was a portable crib set up with a few stuffed toys and necessary items for keeping a 9 month old child happy enough for the time being. Elizabeth had yet to be seen. Monica walked in and laid her gun down on the chair next to the door. She coo'd softly as she picked up Angelina.  
  
"Shhhh there... it's alright..."  
  
"Put the baby down lady and step away."  
  
Monica turned around, Angelina in her arms and came face to face with the third guard. Cody came up the stairs slowly after he'd heard the voices.   
  
"I said to put the baby down lady."  
  
"I'm a Federal Agent. I'm taking this baby out of here with me and you'll surrender your weapon immediately."  
  
Cody stopped in the hallway, gun still in hand. Monica had the baby and was facing down a man with a gun. This was not pretty. The rest of the team was searching the house for Elizabeth Sinclair, and if he shouted for help Monica and the baby could be shot or killed by the time help arrived. He drew in a deep and shaking breath as he raised the gun in both hands.  
  
The soft 'click' behind the guard drew his attention. Behind him, he saw the skinny figure of a geeky looking kid holding a gun on him.  
  
"F-Federal Agent. Put your gun down and step away."  
  
"Yeah right."  
  
"Shoot him Cody.  
  
Cody's eyes got wide. He didn't know if he had the stomach to actually shoot someone. Computers ande gizmos were his specialty, not shooting armed guards.  
  
"CODY!"  
  
"Move away from them now!"  
  
The guard turned back to Monica and raised the semi-automtic machine gun. Monica hugged a strangely calm Angelina to her chest.  
  
"CODY GODDAMIT SHOOT HIM!" Monica shouted over the baby's head as she turned the baby away from the gun.  
  
Cody's eyes widened again as his hands began to sweat. His grip was slick as both he and the guard started to squeeze their triggers at the same time.  
  
'Please please don't hit the baby' was all Monica thought of as a deafening crack split the suffocating atmosphere in the little bedroom...  
  
--  
  
"You greasy little sonofabitch. You know where they are. You orchestrated everything, your own operative implicated you on his dying breath... either you tell me or I resort to playing dirty." She ripped his head back by the hair. Boone was on his stomach, Litha's knee pressed into the small of his back with a good part of her weight behind it as she leaned forward and snarled in his ear. One of her guns had been holstered and secured, the other one was on the floor a few feet from Boone. Not that Boone could have touched either of them. Since Frank left the room, it'd been a onesided fight.   
  
"This is where they fused those vertebrae, eh?" She jammed her thumb down on his spine right over a ridge in the normal demarcations of spinal vertebrae. Boone screamed in pain and bucked. Litha responded by sitting on him and locking her knees around his neck. She squeezed and twisted, using her upper body as a lever back against his own body weight. Basically her knees slipped over his shoulder to lock around his neck while she laid back over his spine and hips as leverage. The harder he bucked to get her off of him, the tighter her leglock got around his neck. If he moved wrong, his neck could snap.  
  
"g-go... to.... hell..." Boone's face was turning red.  
  
"Now, see, there you go. You can talk after all. You're on borrowed time. That debt payment with interest began tallying up the moment your operatives set foot into my mother's home. Double interest was added when they struck my mother, and a penalty was added by them even touching my daughter, not to mention kidnapping her. And the list is so long when it comes down to it. You've got extortion, treason, kidnapping, breaking and entering, drug trafficking, arms dealing, money laundering, shall I go on? I think, if we tried, we could add a fashion ticket in there cuz buddy, your fashion sense is in the toilet. Now tell me where my daughter and mother are at and I promise to make it quick when I kill you."  
  
**** 


	30. Fallen Angel

Frank's cell phone rang. It'd fallen so eerily silent in the lecture hall that when it did ring, everyone jumped out of their skin.  
  
"Donovan."  
  
"We got her."  
  
Frank's shoulder's slumped and he sagged against the door even as he heard a baby screaming in the background and Monica's voice as she tried to calm her down.  
  
"Take care of her... I'll see you both when we there." He shut off his phone and looked up at Wallace. "That was Cody. They're alright and they have Angelina."  
  
Alex and Jake had heard the phone ring and were looking over at Frank anxiously. When they saw him slump against the doors, they feared the worst. It wasn't until they saw Wallace's relief and Frank reaching for the doors that they deduced it was really good news. Following Frank in, they all found Litha pressing Boone to the floor with her legs locked around his neck. Boone's face was turning a shade of purple and he too looked like he'd lost a fight with a stone wall. His nose was swollen and bloody, both of his eyes were turning a shade of blue and purple, his lips were bloody and he had smears of blood all over his face and neck. Litha didn't look too good herself. She had a black eye and a bloody nose in addition to a split lip. Blood was trickling down her chin from her mouth and she had smears of fresh blood on her shirt and hands.  
  
"Get out Frank" she hissed and jerked Boone's neck a bit tighter.  
  
"Let him go Litha. He's not worth it." Wallace stepped closer down the steps.  
  
Litha's response was to jerk the gun from it's holster, cock the hammer and raise it to him. "I said GET OUT! I'm not letting him go until he tells me where they are!"  
  
"He won't, you know that. But it doesn't matter. Dodge, Monica and Cody found them. It's over Litha, let him go and come back... I'll take you to our daughter..." Frank was pleading with her, his eyes dark with concern as he reached out a hand to her.  
  
Litha's face froze. They found Lina... "Mother?"  
  
"Yes, Elizabeth too... come on Lovely... let him go and we'll go see them both. Cody and Monica are on their way to the hospital, just to get affirmation that everything is alright."  
  
Her legs relaxed from Boone's neck and she slid off of him. She sat there for a moment, gun lowered to the floor and in shock. It was over. Her baby was alright...  
  
Frank and Wallace both helped her up and towards the doors. "It's alright Adam. I can walk on my own."  
  
He nodded and left her to Frank's help. Alex and Jake moved back from them. Litha looked like hell, Boone not much better. None of them saw Boone's hand clench around Litha's forgotten twin pistol on the floor behind them all. Litha was trying to holster her gun, Frank's hand helping her slide it in. "Easy... you're going to be sore. Let's get you out of here and to the hospital. That nose is going to need some tending and so is your mouth."  
  
"My other gun... I -" she turned around to go back down to get it.  
  
Alex and Jake's eyes followed her and saw Boone's hand raising the gun, hammer cocked. Instantly they drew their guns and took aim. Wallace turned around to see what the noise was and Frank's head swiveled in time to see Boone's finger squeeze down on the trigger.  
  
Simultaneous cracks shattered the room repeatedly as everything seemed to slow down to a crawl. Litha's body jerked once, Alex and Jake both squeezed off a shot... Wallace was reaching for his own gun under his jacket as Frank was reaching out to catch Litha... Boone's body jerked and a second shot fired from the gun in his hand... Alex squeezed off a second shot that threw Boone over onto his back, the gun flying out of his hand to clatter to the floor... Litha's body fell back into Frank's arms and he slid down to the floor...   
  
Time sped up to normal again. Wallace was running down to check on Boone, Jake and Alex over towards Frank.  
  
"CALL AN AMBULANCE!!"  
  
**** 


	31. Of Fathers And Daughters

"Frank?"  
  
Frank looked up from the seat he was in to see Monica and Cody standing there. Alex and Jake were at the desk interrogating the nurse about something. Dodge and Wallace were talking to the local police about what had happened. None of them had come anywhere near him since they'd taken Litha up to surgery.  
  
"How's Litha?"  
  
"Once to her upper right chest, once to her abdomen that bounced off of her badge." He was holding her dented JD Badge in his hand. He could feel the rough sharp edges where one of her own bullets had hit the badge on her way down to the ground and deflected up across her stomach. "They took her up to surgery an hour ago. The bullet in her abdomen was missing, no exit wound so they were going in to look for it."  
  
Monica looked at Cody, who then turned and disappeared.  
  
"How is Elizabeth?"  
  
"She's just fine. There is someone else who's waiting to see you."  
  
Alex came over. "Go on Frank. I'll go up to surgical waiting and bring word down as soon as something happens."  
  
He nodded and stood up, following Monica through the winding maze of rooms in the ER. At the end of the hallway were two rooms next to each other, both with police outside the doors. Monica nodded to the one and opened the door. Inside on the bed was Elizabeth. She was sitting up and working a crossword puzzle.  
  
"Mrs. Sinclair." Monica stepped back out of the way. He needed to do this alone.  
  
"Agent Donovan."  
  
Frank sighed. "Look, Elizabeth, I wish I knew what I did to make you hate me so much."  
  
"You put my baby into a situation that caused her to be sent away for a very long time. I thought she was dead, Agent Donovan. I know you didn't shoot her, just like I know you didn't make her stay when she found out she was pregnant. Why didn't you come see her or anything?" Her gaze was green, just like Litha's and just as intent.  
  
"Because I didn't know. I knew she needed space and that there were things she had to do by herself. I just found out myself about the baby." He sat down on the edge of the bed. "I'm sorry. Sorry that I'm not the man you think deserves your daughter, and sorry that you and Angelina got drawn into the mess. But it's over now. When Litha is up and around, she'll explain everything to you I'm sure."  
  
The older woman's eyes held his for a moment. The left side of her face was black and blue with yellowish tinges where the bruising had faded somewhat. "How is she? Any word yet?"  
  
"No. As soon as Alex hears something she'll let us know."  
  
Elizabeth nodded and went back to her crossword puzzle.  
  
Frank stood up and headed for the door.  
  
"I never thought you didn't deserve her, Frank. I just wanted to bang both of your heads against the wall to knock some sense into you both."  
  
He looked back to see Elizabeth smiling at him for once. "I'll check in on you later Elizabeth."  
  
Monica followed him out and led him into the next room past the officer there. Cody was in the room and leaning over something. Various giggles and coos were heard, in addition to some squeaks and peals of babyish laughter. Frank froze in his steps.  
  
"I can't do this..." he started to back up for the door when Cody stepped back from the bed.  
  
"What's wrong Frank? Afraid of a little baby?" Cody grinned. This was going to be priceless.  
  
The babyish laughter ceased, replaced by a soft cooing sound coming from the bed. Frank's dark eyes found the source and stared. The baby girl in the bed was on her back and had hold of her toes where Cody was playing with her feet. As she rolled over onto her stomach, Cody's hand immediately reached out to cover her in case she got too close to the edge of the bed and rolled off. A head of pitch black hair popped up out of the sheets and a pair of grass green eyes looked curiously around the room.  
  
Frank stepped closer and looked in the bed. The baby sat up and looked up at him calm as you please. Frank's forehead wrinkled a bit as he stared at the baby. Behind him, Cody and Monica started giggling. Jake walked in to hear and leaned over.  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
"Take a look. There is no way ANYONE can dispute that the little girl in that bed is Frank's child." Monica started laughing, attempting to cover it up with her hand.  
  
Jake leaned around Frank's shoulder to see what was so funny.  
  
There, in the bed and sitting up staring at Frank, was a baby girl with her mother's green eyes and pitch black hair, and who's face was fixed in a perfect mirror of their fearless leader's disseminating stare.  
  
**** 


	32. Awake, Sleeping Beauty!!

Jake tapped Alex on the shoulder.  
  
"Hey, any news?"  
  
She yawned and stretched. It was almost 2 in the morning and she'd fallen asleep... again. "No, she's still out. Frank and Lina managed to get to sleep though." She nodded to the sleeping man with the baby snuggled up against his chest.  
  
"Adorable. And potential blackmail evidence."  
  
Alex stood up and stretched again. She pulled him out into the hallway so they could talk without disturbing the sleeping beauties inside. "If she doesn't look like Mini-Frank with green eyes, then you and I both are virgins. The doctors are hoping she'll come out of it today. The last two days have been harsh on Frank. I think he's beginning to blame himself for not breaking up the fight sooner."  
  
"There's no way he could have known that Director Boone would have been able to reach her gun, or that he would have had the mentality to shoot her. He can't blame himself at all for that." Jake looked in through the window as Litha's chest rose and fell evenly with the help of the machine. "The doctor said that if the second bullet hadn't hit her badge, then she might have been paralyzed from the waist down. Best case scenario permanently disabled in one hip."  
  
"Trust Litha to use a big caliber bullet. You still giving her odds on kicking my ass in a matchup?" Alex grinned.  
  
"Sure am. You saw what she did to Boone and Burns."  
  
"Yeah, sure. But she had an advantage then - adrenaline and anger."  
  
"She still has an advantage - Black Ops, remember?"  
  
"Nah, she's not Black. Adam told me later that she trained with them on occasion, but she never ran missions with them. She's Hostage Recovery and Special Operations only." Alex stopped and looked around. "Where are Dodge and Wallace?"  
  
"Dodge went home, Wallace is on his way back to Detroit with Mrs. Sinclair. Cody and Monica are at the hotel."  
  
"Jake..."  
  
"yeah Alex?"  
  
"What do we do if she never wakes up? MOre important, what does Frank do?"  
  
Neither of them wanted to answer that question until they had to.  
  
--  
  
She heard voices. They were fuzzy and hushed, but she heard voices all the same. She felt heavy, like she was soggy and waterlogged. No... it was her chest that felt heavy. Why couldn't she open her eyes?  
  
Jake and Alex had brought coffee and breakfast in for Frank and Lina. They were giving him the low-down on who was where. Cody and Monica were heading back to Chicago to the nest to see what'd been happening while they were gone. Lina burbled happily while playing with her daddy's ear and close trimmed goatee  
  
The next sensation she had was feeling like she was suffocating. Her lungs weren't responding to her, she couldn't breath..  
  
The alarm on the machine next to Litha's bed started beeping it's alarm loudly. Frank stood up with Lina in hand as a nurse came rushing in. Litha's hands were curled, almost claw-like and scratching at the sheets. Alex and Jake moved out of the way as the nurse and doctor pushed their way in.  
  
"She's waking up."  
  
"It's only her ventilator alarm Agent Donovan. She's trying to fight it and breath on her own. Miss Sinclair... Lillith can you hear me? Wake up sweety, open your eyes for me." The nurse was flicking switches as the doctor was shaking Litha's arm. Frank handed Lina over to Alex as he approached the bed.  
  
'Open your eyes'... she was trying... why couldn't she open her eyes? Her mouth... she couldn't get her mouth to open so she could inhale... Why did her chest feel so damned heavy? Another alarm went off, a different beeping sound. A metal detector... it sounded like the detectors at the Academy... she remembered setting them off as she walked in.. people got out of her way... the doors to the lecture hall... Boone...  
  
Her eyes flew open and her hands instantly were at her face, clawing at the tube in her mouth. When she couldn't get it out, she tried to sit up. It took the nurse, the doctor and Frank both to push her back down.  
  
"Litha stop it!! You're safe with me... calm down!"  
  
"Miss Sinclair, you're going to hurt yourself!"  
  
"The tube, take it out!"  
  
"We can't Agent Donovan, we don't know if she is able to breath on her own!"  
  
"I think the fact that she's awake and choking is proof enough, TAKE IT OUT!!"  
  
Alarms were going off like mad from the heart monitor and the ventilator. Behind them Lina watched calmly from Alex's arms. The doctor sighed and shut it off, then disconnected the hose leading from the machine to the juncture taped to Litha's cheek. Her eyes watched the doctor as he did, then Frank for a moment. How long had she been unconscious?  
  
Immediately Litha's brain took over and her chest began to rise and fall on it's own. The doctor removed the tube from her trachea and did a quick exam on her. "Well, despite that little struggle, all the stitches are in place still and you look like you could walk out of here in a few days. I'll check back on you in a few hours to see how you're doing."  
  
Litha rolled her eyes at the doctor and looked at Frank. But her eyes strayed past him to Lina. She was safe and looked to be in excellent shape. That's all that mattered really... well, that and Frank was with her. Almost by intuition, Alex stepped up and handed Lina down to Litha.  
  
"hey baby girl." Litha's voice was barely more than a croaking whisper, but Lina giggled and laid her head down on her mother's chest. Tears welled up in Litha's eyes when she did and her arms wrapped around the small form tightly. It was all worth it, she decided. The blood, the tears, the pain. It was all worth it to have her baby back in her arms again.  
  
Lina started to sit up and accidentally put her hand down for balance on the bandage covering the incision in Litha's abdomen. She stifled a hiss of pain, but her eyes squeezed shut and Frank immediately took Lina back into his arms. Lina was happy either way. She seemed to have taken to Frank and was just at home playing with his ears as she was playing with her mother's hair. Litha smiled up at him. 'This was the way it should be' she thought as she drifted back off to sleep.  
  
**** 


	33. Castles, Kings... And Husbands.

6 MONTHS LATER, MAY 1, CHICAGO  
  
"AZA! AZA! AZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"  
  
Alex turned at the warcry ringing through the nest just in time to be tackled around the leg by a stumbling Angelina Sinclair Donovan. Since Litha and Frank moved back in together, they'd come to an agreement and had Lina's name changed, making Sinclair her middle name and Donovan her sole last name. Lina didn't seem to care and the both of them were as happy as two people in love could be.  
  
Alex laughed and bent down to pick up a healthy and rosey cheeked 18 month old Lina who was chewing on something.  
  
"Hey big girl!! Where's your parents, huh? Who's that?" Alex pointed to Jake, who waved as he passed by towards the breakroom.  
  
"Jay!!" Lina scrabbled to get down and when Alex set her down, she took off after Jake... only to be sidetracked by the motherlode of compuers, wires and gizmos that was Cody's hidey hole within the nest.  
  
A soft chuckle made Alex turn around. Greeting her was Litha and Frank. Something was odd about the two of them. Frank for sure. It wasn't every day that the imposing Frank Donovan gave his team three weeks of paid holiday. What made it even fishier is that for two of those three weeks neither of them were reachable by any means - email, cell phone, pager, land line, sat-com - nothing.  
  
"And just where have you two been?" Alex smiled and kissed Frank's cheek even as she actually reached over and hugged Litha. Since she'd gotten out of the hospital, Litha Sinclair was a different person. Of course, since she left the Justice Department's active duty roster for good could have been the reason too. But Alex didn't know that part... yet.  
  
"Oh, here and there. Detroit, D.C., San Francisco... Edinburgh..." Litha winked and went to untangle the little hellion from Cody's computer set up. Since she'd met Cody, Lina took extreme delight in tormenting the poor comptuer guru by wrecking his wiring systems and accidentally using his tender delicate gizmos as playtoys. Frank just kept smiling. Alex eyed him suspiciously. Yup, something was up alright.  
  
Monica finally made it into the nest just in time to see Lina being extricated from under Cody's desk, Cody pouting at a still suspiciously brooding Lina who was staring at Cody like she was negotiating a delicate hostage situation and the fate of the world rested on that decision, and a laughing Litha carting the toddler back to her father.  
  
"Well, isn't this a happy reunion. Frank, we were all beginning to wonder if maybe Litha hadn't actually shagged you to death like she'd promised -"  
  
"THREATENED!!" Jake yelled from the kitchen.  
  
"Yes, threatened to do on many occasion." Monica laughed as she finished up her sentence as Jake came back from the kitchen with two mugs of coffee for Frank and Litha.  
  
"Are you two ever going to tell them that you took a honeymoon?"  
  
All five and a half of them turned and stared at Cody.  
  
"What?" Cody grinned unashamedly.  
  
Alex, Monica and Jake all three started in with the questions immediately. Frank finally put his hands up in self defense. "Alright, alright. Sit down you guys and we'll explain. How Cody found out I'll never know..."  
  
Cody beamed even as Lina wriggled to try and escape her mother's grasp. She just knew Cody had some peachy toys under that desk and if she could only get to them. Alex shook her head as she watched Lina and the gears operating behind those grass green eyes. Her parents were going to have hell when she got older.  
  
"Yes, we got married. But not like Cody suggested. We just got back from Scotland where we were wed. Litha wanted her mother there and wanted to show me her family's ancestral home."  
  
"Ancestral Home? What, you have a castle there Sinclair?"  
  
"Only after Mum dies." Litha looked at all three of them as they stared at her. "What? Doesn't everyone's family have an ancestral castle? And it's Sinclair-Donovan now, get it right." Litha laughed as Jake's eyes got really wide. "Hey, what can I say. My mother's family is rich."  
  
"So, that explains Edinburgh. What about San Francisco, Detroit and D.C.?" Monica wasn't going to give it up.  
  
Litha piped up as Frank opened his mouth. "After Mum got out of the hospital and Adam escorted her back to Detroit, she resigned herself to the idea that eventually Frank would be a permanent part of my life now that he knew about Lina. So she decided it was time for her to go home." Litha smiled brightly and continued. "She was never a permanent citizen, just living here as a resident alien married to my father until she felt I was ready to live an ocean apart from her. Her house in Detroit was still in her name. So, she deeded the house over to Lina in trust to be given to her on her 25th birthday providing it's still in suitable conditions. Frank and I agreed that we'd like to keep it as a second home until Lina decides what she wants to do with it. So we were in Detroit taking care of the paperwork."  
  
"San Francisco?"  
  
"Fisherman's Wharf, Alcatraz and Ghiradhelli's Chocolate Factory." Litha winked at Frank, who blushed beet red at the mention of the chocolate factory. If it ever got out that Litha covered him head to toe with chocolate 'body paint' and licked him like a lollipop until clean, he'd never live it down from his team.  
  
"And D.C.?"  
  
Litha looked at Frank for a moment. He nodded and she smiled. "I retired from active duty a few months ago."  
  
Everyone just staredin open-mouthed shock. Litha? RETIRED? They all looked at Frank wondering what dirty little secret or trick he pulled to get her to agree to that. Frank just smiled a mysterious smile and put his hands up to wave off the bloodhounds. Litha shook her head with a soft laugh and continued.  
  
"We were there finishing up the paperwork. Wallace has taken back the reins as Chief Director of the FBI and while we were there he begged me to at least remain as a consultant. After talking about it, Frank and I agreed that it would be something reasonable to accept. While we were still in Brazil, trying to shoot our way out of Montcalvez's home, I realized that Hostage Recovery is a part of me that I can't give up. It'd be like Cody giving up his Virtual Cindy Crawford."  
  
Cody's mouth dropped open. How'd she know about that??  
  
"For me to remain as a consultant for the HNR Units and as a part time trainer for the Special Operations staff was only natural. This gives me the chance to stay at home with Lina and to work more with my own business projects."  
  
"No more Black Ops training sessions?"  
  
"No more Black Ops Jake. I'm living here in Chicago until further notice. I have a night club that I own and plan on taking a more active role with. Also have a self-defense school I plan on getting started. I mean, what better teacher to have instruct you in self defense than a former FBI Agent with the HNR and Special Operations Units? Of course, for security reasons I won't be able to publicize that part, but..." She shrugged. Lina finally wriggled loose from her mother's grip and scooted over towards Cody.  
  
"So, this means no 10 rounds between you and Alex. Bummer, Cody and I were betting on who would win in how many rounds." Jake sighed melodramatically.  
  
Frank smiled at Litha and pulled a $50 out of his wallet. "My money's on Litha in 5."  
  
Litha just smiled back and kicked off her shoes. She walked over, reached down and plucked Lina up just as she was reaching for the bundle of cables hooking all the monitors to the mainframe and handed her to her father. "Be a good girl while Mum and Aunt Aza have a bit of fun."  
  
**** 


	34. Love In The Real World...

--  
  
Big shout out to Deana and Dreamscape who put up with me in all the twists and turns of this epic adventure. ~LOL~ I call it epic as it's the longest story I've seen on this site and I can't believe I actually wrote that much about two people. Thanks gals, love you and the reviews!!  
  
--  
  
  
Later that night, Lina was sleeping soundly in her own bed and Litha was face down in the mattress. She and Alex made liars out of all four of them by going 15 rounds and calling it a draw. Litha walked away with a sprained wrist and a bruised jaw whereas Alex walked away with a black eye and a hyper-extended knee. BOTH of them walked away with over $200 in the prize money. Neither injuries on either woman were serious and they had fun while doing it. It wasn't until after the spar that everyone found out that the two of them had been talking about it in the 6 months after Litha got out of the hospital. In Litha's spare time and between Alex's assignments, Litha had been training Alex in some forms of self defense - just so it would be a fair match up.  
  
Frank checked on Lina one last time. She looked so angelic sleeping like that. Just like her mother. And just like her mother, she was more trouble than hell in a handbasket. But it was worth it. He shook his head. No matter how many times he looked at Lina, he still had trouble believing he was a father. He tucked the summer weight blanket around her waist and kissed his fingertips, then pressed them to her cheek. "Sleep sweet little angel."  
  
Litha shifted and rolled over onto her side. The moonlight was bright that night, a full moon over head. It gilded her hair and skin with a silvery glow as it filtered in through the opened window. Frank stood in the door and watched her for a moment. Two angels in his life. Two HELLS angels to be more precise. What did he do to deserve this sort of reward? The bruise on her jaw glowed black in the dark and he chuckled. What was he thinking betting on that spar this afternoon? All in good fun really... and it was good that Alex and Litha turned out to be decent friends. They all adopted Litha as a sort of sister in many regards.  
  
He sat down on the edge of the bed and brushed a lock of her hair from her forehead. The one wrist was wrapped in an ace bandage. Frank picked up her hand and kissed the palm gently so as not to twist the joint. Slowly Litha's eyes opened up to him.  
  
"Come to bed love."  
  
"I am. Just a minute. I like to watch you while you sleep, you know that?"  
  
"Mmm hmm. I do. Lina sleeping?"  
  
"Like an angel."  
  
Litha snorted and shifted, moving over in the bed so Frank could lay down. She rested her head on his chest, right over his heart so she could listen to the steady and strong beat.  
  
"No more secrets Litha?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"No more secrets Litha. Promise me. I can't stand to go through what we did two years ago."  
  
"No more secrets Frank."  
  
"Promise?"  
  
"I promise. I told Dodge to take his IAD and put it in a folder. No more investigations, no more files, no more undercover for me. I'm a happy stay at home mother who happens to be a Justice Department Agent."  
  
"Former..."  
  
"Uhm. yeah...."  
  
"LITHA."  
  
She giggled and tickled his ribs. It was just too easy to get him worked up. Frank responded by tackling her and trying to pin her down enough to tickle her back. He didnt' count on her rolling him over and her sitting on his stomach with his wrists in a vice-like grip.  
  
"Shush, you'll wake the baby."  
  
A smile crept across his face like no tomorrow.  
  
"Damn your sexy when you do that."  
  
"I know. Speaking of the baby..." he yanked his arms out of her grip hard enough that she lost her balance and fell over his chest. She caught herself as he wrapped his arms around her waist tightly.  
  
"What about the baby?" Long tendrils of her black hair drifted over his face in the slight breeze from the window.  
  
"How about we start on number two..." He pulled her down under him as he rolled over, his lips finding her in a long, deep, slow and passionate kiss.  
  
****  
  
- finis. 


End file.
